THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


GIFT 


i  ,  w  ATT  •*   D 


THE  WORLD  TO  COME : 


OR. 


DISCOURSES  ON  THE  JOYS  OR  SORROWS 


OP 

DEATH,  JUDGMENT  AND  ETERNITY : 

TO  WHICH  ARE  ADDED  AN 

ESSAY  ON  THE  SEPARATE  STATE  OF  SOULS, 

AND 

AN    APPENDIX, 

CONTAINING  SELECT  POEMS. 

BY  ISAAC  WATTS,  D.  D. 


WITH    A   PREFACE   AND    NOTES 
BY  JOHN  BURTT,  V.  D.  M. 


DAYTON: 
PUBLISHED   BY   B.F.ELLS. 


1836. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1836, 

BY  B.  F.  ELLS, 
in  the  Clerk's  Office  for  the  District  Court  of  Ohio. 


CONTENTS. 


EDITOR'S  PREFACE Page     v. 

AUTHOR'S  PREFACE viii. 

Discourses  on  the  -world  to  come. 

DISCOURSE  I.— The  End  of  Time 13 

DISCOURSE  II. — The  watchful  Christian  dying  in  peace    33 

DISCOURSE  III. — Surprise  in  Death 58 

DISCOURSE  IV. — Christ  admired  and  glorified  in  his  Saints   78 

DISCOURSE  V. — The  Wrath  of  the  Lamb    10£ 

DISCOUKSE  VI.— The  vain  Refuge  of  Sinners,  or  a  meditation  on  the 

rocks  near  Tunbridge- Wells.  1729 114 

DISCOURSE  VII. — No  Night  in  Heaven    130 

DISCOURSE  VIII. — A  Soul  prepared  for  Heaven 147 

DISCOURSE  IX. — No  Pain  among  the  Blessed   175 

DISCOURSE  X. — The  first  fruits  of  the  Spirit,  or  the  foretaste  of  Hea- 
ven     210 

DISCOURSE  XI. — Safety  in  the  Grave,  and  joy  at  the  Resurrection  . .   233 

A  Speech  over  a  Grave 255 

DISCOURSE  XII. — The  Nature  of  the  Punishments  in  Hell   257 

DISCOURSE  XIII. — The  eternal  Duration  of  the  Punishments  in  Hell  291 
An  Essay  toward  the  proof  of  a  Separate  State  of  Souls   between 

Death  and  the  Resurrection   , 334 

APPENDIX. 

Earth  and  Heaven  383 

Death  and  Eternity   384 

The  Atheist's  Mistake 385 

The  Welcome  Measenger  386 

The  Farewell  387 

Launching  into  Eternity 388 

Happy  Frailty    388 

The  Day  of  Judgment  390 

A  Prospect  of  the  Resurrection    , 391 

A  Sight  of  Heaven  in  Sickness 392 

Felicity  Above    393 

The  Presence  of  God  worth  dying  for ;  or  the  Death  of  Moses 394 

God's  Dominion  and  Decrees 395 

The  Incomprehensible 396 

True  Wisdom 397 

Christ  dying,  rising,  and  reigning 399 

The  Song  of  Angels  above   399 

Two  happy  Rivals,  Devotion  and  the  Muse 402 

Come,  Lord  Jesus 404 

A  Sight  of  Christ   408 


EDITOR'S   PREFACE. 


Dr..  ISAAC  WATTS,  the  author  of  the  following  Discourses,  was  born  at 
Southampton,  in  England,  in  the  year  1674.  His  parents  were  noncon- 
formists, and  his  father  was  a  sufferer  for  conscience'  sake,  having  been  im- 
prisoned more  than  once  for  refusing  to  conform  to  the  religion  established 
by  government  During  his  confinement,  his  afflicted  and  sympathising 
wife  was  sometimes  seen  sitting  on  a  stone,  near  the  prison  door,  with  her 
son  Isaac  on  her  bosom.  Isaac,  at  a  very  early  age,  gave  promising  indica- 
tions of  genius,  and  from  fifteen  to  fifty,  poetical  composition  contributed  to 
his  amusement,  as  it  also  did  to  his  usefulness  and  fame.  In  his  nineteenth 
year,  he  became  a  professed  follower  of  Christ,  and  devoted  himself  to  those 
studies,  and  assiduously  cultivated  those  habits,  which  were  calculated  to 
prepare  him  for  the  sacro:!  duties  of  a  Christian  tninister.  At  the  age  of 
twenty-four,  and  on  his  birth-day,  he  preached  his  first  sermon.  During  the 
iirst  three  or  four  years  of  his  ministry,  his  labours  were  much  interrupted 
by  sick-.iess ;  but  he  was  so  far  restored  as  to  labour  with  much  acceptance 
and  success,  till  1712,  when  a  violent  fever  so  completely  prostrated  his 
constitution,  that  he  was  never  afterwards  able  to  discharge,  statedly,  the 
public  duties  of  a  pastor.  During  a  period  of  thirty-six  years,  which  he 
spent  in  a  state  01*  retirement,  he  laboured  most  laudably  and  industriously, 
to  promote  by  his  pen,  that  holy  cause,  which  he  was  no  longer  permitted 
to  plead  from  the  sacred  desk.  In  1748,  he  died,  in  the  74th  year  of  his 
age,  sustained  by  the  consolations,  and  animated  with  the  hopes  of  that 
gospel,  which  h  '  had  so  long  been  spared  and  privileged  to  recommend  to 
others. 

His  poetical  works  are,  for  the  greater  part,  well  known,  and  favourably 
appreciated,  by  all  who  love  pious  sentiments  expressed  in  an  elegant  sim- 
plicity of  diction.  His  prose  works  arc  various  and  excellent.  The  writer 
of  these  remarks  takes  a  pleasure  in  recording  here  his  obligations  to  Dr. 
Walts'  treatise  "  On  the  improvement  of  the  mind,"  from  which,  in  youth, 
A  2  V 


vi  EDITOR'S  PREFACE. 

he  derived  more  permanent  advantage  than  from  any  other  work  of  human 
composition.  The  Discourses  contained  in  this  volume,  and  generally  pub- 
lished under  the  title  of  "  The  World  to  come,"  have  been  long  known  to 
the  Christian  public,  and  highly  esteemed  by  pious  people,  of  every  degree 
of  mental  cultivation.  The  author  combines,  in  the  happiest  manner,  ele- 
gance with  perspicuity,  tenderness  with  fidelity,  a  vivacity  of  imagination 
with  cogency  of  argument,  clear  statement,  and  impressive  thought. 

While  I  think  that  every  serious  Christian  reader  will  agree  with  me,  in 
a  high  estimate  of  the  excellence  of  these  Discourses,  I  would  not  conceal, 
and  at  the  same  time,  I  would  not  aggravate,  the  blemishes  which  I  see  in 
them.  A  few,  and  but  a  few  sentences  occur,  in  which  there  are  expres- 
sions, which  although  not  intended  to  teach  error,  are  rather  loose  and  un- 
guarded. On  several  of  the  most  remarkable  of  these,  I  have  taken  the  lib- 
erty to  comment  briefly  in  the  Notes,  which  the  reader  will  find  at  the  bottom 
of  the  pages,  where  the  faulty  expressions  occur.  It  would  not  have  been 
consistent  with  my  respect  for  the  author,  nor  with  the  sense  which  I  enter- 
tain of  my  own  imperfection,  to  enter  my  caveat  against  every  turn  of  ex- 
pression which  might  appear  to  me  exceptionable  :  to  notice  some  of  these, 
I  considered  to  be  necessary,  for  the  sake  of  guarding  the  inexperienced  and 
unsuspecting  reader  from  taking  upon  trust  every  thing  which  may  fall 
from  the  pen  of  even  a  truly  learned  and  pious  man.  With  the  few  excep- 
tions to  which  I  have  reference,  the  reader  will  find  that  the  work  is  at  once 
scriptural,  luminous,  and  solemn,  treating  of  the  most  awful  subjects  that 
can  engage  the  attention  of  men,  in  a  manner  the  most  becomingly  tender, 
and  instructively  interesting. 

Besides  these  Notes,  which  I  hope  the  intelligent  reader  will  not  consider 
captious,  as  they  were  not  written  in  a  captious  spirit,  there  are  a  few 
others,  intended  for  illustration.  I  might  have  increased  the  number  of 
these;  but  in  a  work  professedly,  and  I  may  add,  pre-eminently  practical, 
I  judged  it  best  not  to  divert  the  attention  of  the  reader  too  often  from  the 
train  of  thought  presented  by  the  author. 

The  subjects  treated  of  in  the  following  pages  are  or  universal  concern ; 
every  human  being,  now  on  earth,  is  hastening  on,  as  rapidly  as  time  can 
carry  him,  to  the  joys  or  terrors  of  a  "  World  to  come."  The  change 
which  we  must  all  experience  at  death,  and  the  asi-crtained  or  possible  in- 
terests, which  we  may  have  in  eternity,  as  they  unspeakably  surpass  all 
earthly  objects  of  contemplation,  so  they  ought  to  have  a  suitable  share  of 
our  daily  attention,  and  awaken  in  us  the  most  serious  thoughts.  "  What 
shall  it  profit  a  man,  if  he  shall  gain  the  whole  world,  and  lose  his  own 
soul  V  What  will  be  the  amount  of  all  our  care,  and  toil,  and  acquire- 
ments, when  calculated  in  the  dying  hour,  if  we  have  not  cared  and  toiled 
for  our  eternal  interests,  and  obtained  a  hope,  through  grace,  of  an  inheri- 
tance in  heaven  ?  These  are  questions  which  we  all  should  ask ;  and  none 


EDITOR'S  PREFACE.  Yii 

of  us  should  rest,  until  we  are  enabled  to  adopt  the  language  of  the  apostle, 
and  say :  "  According  to  my  earnest  expectation  and  my  hope,  that  in  no- 
thing I  shall  be  ashamed,  but  that  ....  Christ  shall  be  magnified  in  my 
body,  whether  it  be  by  life  or  by  death :  for  to  me,  to  live  is  Christ,  and  to 
die  is  gain." 

That  the  perusal  of  this  volume  may  be  blessed  to  the  reader,  and  be  a 
means  of  exciting  him  to  live  habitually  in  view  of  the  glory  of  God,  and 
the  salvation  of  his  soul,  is  the  earnest  prayer  of  his  sincere  well-wisher, 

JOHN  BURTT. 


THE  AUTHOR'S  PREFACE. 


AMONG  all  the  solemn  and  important  things  which  relate  to  reli- 
gion, there  is  nothing  that  strikes  the  soul  of  man  with  so  much  awe 
and  solemnity,  as  the  scenes  of  death,  and  the  dreadful  or  delightful 
consequents  which  attend  it.  Who  can  think  of  entering  into  that 
unknown  region  where  spirits  dwell,  without  the  strongest  impres- 
sions upon  the  mind  arising  from  so  strange  a  manner  of  existence  ? 
Who  can  take  a  survey  of  the  resurrection  of  the  millions  of  the  dead, 
and  of  the  tribunal  of  Christ,  whence  men  and  angels  must  receive 
their  doom,  without  the  most  painful  solicitude,  '  What  will  my  sen- 
tence be  ?'  Who  can  meditate  on  the  intense  and  unmingled  plea- 
sure or  pain  in  the  world  to  come,  without  the  most  pathetic  emotions 
of  soul,  since  each  of  us  must  be  determined  to  one  of  these  states, 
and  they  are  both  of  everlasting  duration  1 

These  are  the  things  that  touch  the  springs  of  every  passion  in  the 
most  sensible  manner,  and  raise  our  hopes  and  our  fears  to  their  su- 
preme exercise.  These  are  the  subjects  with  which  our  blessed  Sa- 
viour and  his  Apostles  frequently  entertained  their  hearers,  in  order  to 
persuade  them  to  hearken,  and  attend  to  the  divine  lessons  which  they 
published  amongst  them.  These  were  some  of  the  sharpest  weapons 
of  their  holy  warfare,  which  entered  into  the  inmost  vitals  of  man- 
kind, and  pierced  their  consciences  with  the  highest  solicitude. — 
These  have  been  the  happy  means  to  awaken  thousands  of  sinners  to 
flee  from  the  wrath  to  come,  and  to  allure  and  hasten  them  to  enter 
into  that  glorious  refuge  that  is  set  before  them  in  the  gospel. 

It  is  for  the  same  reason  that  I  have,  selected  a  few  discourses  on 
these  arguments  out  of  my  public  ministry,  to  set  them  before  the 
eyes  of  the  world  in  a  more  public  manner,  that  if  possible,  some 
thoughtless  creatures  might  be  roused  out  of  their  sinful  slumbers, 
and  might  awake  into  a  spiritual  and  eternal  life,  through  the  concur- 
ring influences  of  the  blessed  Spirit. 

lam  not  willing  to  disappoint  my  readers,  and  therefore  I  would 

viii 


AUTHOR'S  PREFACE.  ix 

let  them  know  before-hand,  that  they  will  find  very  little  in  this  book 
to  gratify  their  curiosity  abort  the  many  questions  relating  to  the  in- 
visible world,  and  the  things  which  God  has  not  plainly  revealed. 
Something  of  this  kind,  perhaps,  may  be  found  in  two  discourses  of 
death  and  heaven,  which  I  published  long  ago  :  but  in  the  present  dis- 
courses I  have  very  much  neglected  such  curious  enquiries.  Noi 
will  the  ear  that  has  an  itch  for  controversy  be  much  entertained  here, 
for  I  have  avoided  matters  of  doubtful  debate.  Nor  need  the  most 
zealous  man  of  orthodoxy,  fear  to  be  led  astray  into  new  and  dangerous 
sentiments,  if  he  will  hut  take  the  plainest  and  most  evident  dictates 
of  Scripture,  for  his  direction  into  all  truth. 

My  only  design  has  been  to  set  the  great  and  most  momentous 
things  of  a  future  world  in  the  most  convincing  and  affecting  light, 
and  to  enforce  them  upon  the  conscience  with  all  the  fervour  that  such 
subjects  demand  and  require.  And  may  our  blessed  Redeemer,  who 
reigns  Lord  of  the  invisible  world,  pronounce  these  words  with  a  di- 
vine power  to  the  heart  of  pvery  man,  who  shall  either  read  or  hear 
them. 

The  treatise  which  is  set  as  an  introduction  to  this  book,  *  was 
printed  many  years  230  without  the  author's  name,  and  there,  in  a 
short  preface,  represented  to  the  reader  these  few  reasons  of  its  wri- 
ting and  publication,  viz. 

The  principles  of  atheism  and  infidelity  have  prevailed  so  far  upon 
our  age,  as  to  break  in  upon  the  sacred  fences  of  virtue  and  piety, 
and  to  destroy  the  noblest  and  most  effectual  springs  of  true  and  vital 
religion?  I  mean  those  which  are  contained  in  the  blessed  gospel. — 
The  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  and  the  consequent  states 
of  heaven  and  hell,  is  a  guard  and  motive  of  divine  force ;  but  it  is  re- 
nounced by  the  enemies  of  our  holy  Christianity :  and  should  we 
give  up  the  recompences  of  separate  souls,  while  the  deist  denies  the 
resurrection  of  the  lody,  I  fear  between  both  we  should  sadly  enfeeble 
and  expose  the  cause  of  virtue,  and  leave  it  too  naked  and  defenceless. 
The  Christian  would  have  but  one  persuasive  of  this  kind  remaining, 
and  the  deist  would  have  none  at  all. 

It  is  necessary  therefore  to  be  upon  our  guard,  and  to  establish  eve- 
ry motive  that  we  can  derive  either  from  reason  or  Scripture,  to  se- 
cure religion  in  the  world.  The  doctrine  of  the  state  of  separate 
spirits,  and  the  commencement  of  rewards  and  punishments,  imme- 
diately after  death,  is  one  of  those  sacred  fence?  of  virtue  which  we 
borrow  from  Scripture,  and  it  is  highly  favoured  by  reason,and  there- 

*  In  the  present  edition,  the  treatise,  or  Essay,  referred  to  here,  is  placed 
it  the  end  of  the  volume. — ED. 


x  AUTHOK'S  PREFACE. 

fore  it  may  not  le  unseasonable  to  publish  such  arguments  as  may 
tend  to  the  support  of  it. 

In  this  second  edition  of  this  small  treatise,  I  have  added  several 
paragraphs  and  pages  to  defend  the  same  doctrine,  and  the  last  sec- 
tion contains  an  answer  to  various  new  objections  which  I  had  not 
met  with,  when  I  first  began  to  write  on  this  subject.  I  hope  it  is 
set  upon  such  a  firm  foundation  of  many  Scriptures,  as  cannot  pos- 
sibly be  overturned,  nor  do  I  think  it  a  very  easy  matter  any  way  to 
evade  the  force  of  them.  May  the  grace  of  God  lead  us  on  further 
into  every  truth  that  tends  to  maintain  and  propagate  faith  and  holi- 
ness. 

In  the  first  cf  these  discourses,  I  have  endeavoured  to  prove,  that 
'at  the  departure  of  the  soul  from  the  body  by  death,  the  rewards  or 
punishments,'  i.  e.  the  joys  or  sorrows  '  of  the  other  world,  are  ap- 
pointed to  commence  :'.  and  I  hope  I  have  given,  from  the  evidence  of 
Scripture,  such  arguments  to  support  this  doctrine,  as  that  the  faith 
of  Christians  may  not  be  staggered  and  confounded  by  different  opin- 
ions, or  made  to  wait  for  these  events,  through  all  the  many  years 
that  may  arise  between  death  and  the  resurrection. 

I  know  nothing  besides  this,  that  is  made  r.  matter  of  controversy ; 
and  I  hope  that  the  whole  of  these  sermons,  by  the  blessing  of  God, 
wil1  be  made  happily  useful  to  Christians,  to  awaken  and  v/arn  them 
against  the  danger  of  being  seized  by  death  in  a  state  unprepared  for 
the  presence  of  God,  and  the  happiness  of  heaven,  and  to  raise  the 
comforts  and  joys  of  many  pious  souls  in  the  lively  expectation  of 
future  blessedness. 

The  last  discourses  of  this  book,  especially  the  'eternity  of  the 
punishments  of  hell,'  have  been  in  latter  and  former  years  made  a 
matter  of  dispute ;  and  were  I  to  pursue  my  enquiries  inLo  this  doc- 
trine, only  by  the  aids  of  the  light  of  nature  and  reason,  I  fear  my 
natural  tenderness  might  warp  me  aside  from  the  rules  and  the  de- 
mands of  strict  justice,  and  the  wise  and  holy  government  of  the 
great  God.  But  as  I  confine  myself  almost  entirely  to  the  revelation 
of  Scripture  in  all  my  searches  into  the  things  of  revealed  religion 
and  Christianity,  I  am  constrained  to  forget  or  to  lay  aside  that  soft- 
ness and  tenderness  of  animal  nature  which  might  lead  rie  astray, 
and  to  follow  the  unerring  dictates  of  the  word  of  God. 

The  Scripture  frequently,  and  in  the  plainest  and  strongest  man- 
ner, asserts  the  everlasting  punishment  of  sinners  in  hell ;  and  that 
by  all  the  methods  of  expression  which  are  used  in  Scripture  to  sig- 
nify an  everlasting  continuance. 

God's  utter  hatred  and  aversion  to  sin,  in  this  perpetual  punish- 


AUTHOR'S  PREFACE.  xi 

ment  of  it,  are  manifested  many  ways ;  (1.)  By  the  just  and  severe 
threatenings  of  the  wise  and  righteous  Governor  of  the  world,  which 
are  scattered  up  and  down  in  his  word.  (2.)  By  the  veracity  of 
God  in  his  intimations  or  narratives  of  past  events,  as  Jude  v.  7. — 
"  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  suffering  the  vengeance  of  eternal  fire."  (3.) 
By  his  express  predictions,  Matth.  xxv.  46,  "  These  shall  go  away 
into  evarlasting  punishment :"  2  Thess.  i.  9,  "  Who  shall  be  pun- 
ished with  everlasting  destruction  ;"  and  I  might  add,  (4.)  by  the 
veracity  and  truth  of  all  his  holy  Prophets  and  Apostles,  and  his  Son 
Jesus  Christ  at  the  head  of  them,  whom  he  has  sent  to  acquaint  man- 
kind with  the  rules  of  their  duty,  and  the  certain  judgment  of  God  in 
a  holy  correspondence  therewith,  and  that  in  such  words  as  seem  to 
admit  of  no  way  of  escape,  or  of  hope  for  the  condemned  criminals. 

i.  must  confess  here,  if  it  were  possible  for  the  great  and  blessed 
God  any  other  way  to  vindicate  his  own  eternal  and  unchangeable 
hatred  of  sin,  the  inflexible  justice  of  his  government,  the  wisdom  of 
his  severe  threatenings,  and  the  veracity  of  his  predictions,  if  it  were 
also  possible  for  him,  without  this  terrible  ex-scution,  to  vindicate 
the  veracity  ^sincerity,  and  wisdom  of  the  Prophets  and  Apostles, 
and  Jesus  Christ  his  Son,  the  greatest  and  chiefest  of  his  divine 
messengers ;  and  then,  if  the  blessed  God  should  at  any  time,  in  a 
consistence  with  his  glorious  and  incomprehensible  perfections,  re- 
lease those  wretched  creatures  from  their  acute  pains  and  long  im- 
prisonment in  hell,  either  with  a  design  of  the  utter  destruction  of 
their  beings  by  annihilation,  or  to  put  them  into  some  unknown  world, 
upon  a  new  foot  of  trial,  I  think  I  ought  cheerfully  and  joyfully  to 
accept  this  appointment  of  God,  for  the  good  of  millions  of  my  fel- 
low-creatures, and  add  my  joys  and  praises  to  all  the  songs  and  tri- 
umph* of  the  heavenly  world  in  the  day  of  such  a  divine  and  glori- 
ous release  of  these  prisoners. 

But  I  feel  myself  under  a  necessity  of  confessing,  that  I  am  utter- 
ly unable  to  solve  these  difficulties  according  to  the  discoveries  of  the 
New  Testament,  which  must  be  my  constant  rule  of  faith,  and  hope, 
and  expectation,  with  regard  to  myself  and  others.  I  have  read  the 
strongest  and  best  writers  on  the  other  side,  yet  after  all  my  studies 
I  have  not  been  able  to  find  any  way  how  these  difficulties  may  be 
removed,  and  how  the  divine  perfections,  and  the  conduct  of  God  in 
his  word,  may  he  fairly  vindicated  without  the  establishment  of  this 
doctrine,  as  awful  and  formidable  as  it  is. 

'The  ways'  indeed  of  the  great  God  and  his  'thoughts  are  above 
our  thoughts  and  our  ways,  as  the  heavens  are  above  the  earth ;'  yet 
I  most  rest  and  acquiesce  where  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Father's 


Xll  AUTHOR'S  PREFACE. 

chief  Minister,  both  of  his  wrath  and  his  love,  has  left  me  in  the  di- 
vine revelations  of  Scripture ;  and  I  am  constrained  therefore  to  leave 
these  unhappy  creatures  under  the  chains  of  everlasting  darkness,  in- 
to which  they  have  cast  themselves  by  their  wilful  iniquities,  till  the 
blessed  God  shall  see  fit  to  release  them. 

This  would  be  indeed  such  a  new,  such  an  astonishing  and  univer- 
sal jubilee,  both  for  devils  and  wicked  men,  as  must  fill  heaven,  earth, 
and  hell,  with  hallelujahs  and  joy.  In  the  mean  time  it  is  my  ardent 
wish,  that  this  awful  sense  of  the  terrors  of  the  Almighty,  and  his 
everlasting  anger,  which  the  word  of  the  great  God  denounces,  may 
awaken  some  souls  timely  to  bethink  themselves  of  the  dreadful  danger 
into  which  they  are  running,  before  these  terrors  seize  them  at  death, 
and  begin  to  be  executed  upon  them  without  release  and  without 
hope. 

Note.  Where  these  Discourses  shall  be  used  as  a  religious  service  in 
private  families  on  Lord's-day  evenings,  each  of  them  will  afford  a  division 
near  the  middle,  lest  the  service  be  made  too  long  and  tiresome. 


DISCOURSES 


WORLD   TO    COME 


DISCOURSE  I. 

THE  END  OF  TIME. 

RET.  x.  5, 6.  And  the  angel  which  I  saw  stand  upon  the  sea,  and  upon 
the  earth,  lifted  up  his  hand  to  heaven,  and  sware  by  him  that  liveth  for 
ever  and  ever, — that  there  should  be  time  no  longer. 

THIS  is  tfie  oath  and  the  solemn  sentence  of  a  mighty 
angel  who  came  down  from  heaven,  and  by  the  descrip- 
tion of  him  in  the  first  verse,  he  seems  to  be  the    "angel 
of  God's  presence,  in  whom  is  the  name  of  God,7'  even 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  himself,  *  who  pronounced  and 
sware  that  "Time  should  be  no  longer;"  for  all  seasons 
and  times  are  now  put  into  his  hand,  together  with  the 
book  of  his  Father's  decrees,  Rev.  v.  7,  9.     What  special 
age  or  period  of  time  in  this  world  the  prophecy  refers 
to,  may  not  be  so  easy  to  determine; t  but  this  is  certain, 
that  it  may  be  happily  applied  to  the  period  of  every 
man's  life  ;  for  whensoever  the  term  of  our  continuance 
in  this  world  is  finished,  'our  Time,'  in  the  present  cir- 
cumstances and  scenes  that  attend  it,  '  shall  be  no  more.' 
We  fhall  be  swept  off  the  stage  of  this  visible  state  into 
an  unseen  and  eternal  world:  Eternity  comes  upon  us  at 
once,  and  all  that  we  enjoy,  all  that  we  do,  and  all  that 
we  suffer  in  'Time,  shall  be  no  longer.' 

*  Commentators  are  generally  agreed,  in  considering  the  Angel,  men- 
tioned in  the  text,  as  Christ  himself,  or  that  which  represented  him  to 
John,  in  the  vision,  as  the  Messenger  of  the  covenant. — ED. 

f  Judicious  expositors  concur  in  believing  this  part  of  the  prophecy  to 
apply  to  that  period,  which  immediately  precedes  the  sounding  of  the  seventh 
trumpet,  and  during  the  events  which  are  introductory  to  the  latter  day 
of  glory,  predicted  to  the  church. — ED. 

B  13 


14  THE  END  OF  TIME. 

Let  us  stand  still  here,  and  consider  in  the  first  place 
what  awful  and  important  thoughts  are  contained  in  this 
sentence ;  what  solemn  ideas  should  arise  to  the  view  of 
mortal  creatures  when  it  shall  be  pronounced  concerning 
each  of  them,  that  '  Time  shall  be  no  more. ' 

1.  'The  Time  of  the  recovery  of  our  nature  from  its 
sinful  and  wretched  state  shall  be  no  longer.'  We  come 
into  this  world  fallen  creatures,  children  of  iniquity,  and 
heirs  of  death  ;  we  have  lost  the  '  image  of  God'  who 
made  us,  and  which  our  nature  enjoyed  in  our  first 
parents;  and  instead  of  it  we  are  changed  into  the  'image 
of  the  devil'  in  the  lusts  of  the  mind,  in  pride  and  malice, 
in  self-sufficiency  and  enmity  to  God;  and  we  have  put  on 
also  the  '  image  of  the  brute'  in  sinful  appetites  and  sensu- 
alities, and  in  the  lusts  of  the  flesh;  nor  can  we  ever  be 
made  truly  happy  till  the  image  of  the  blessed  God  be 
restored  upon  us,  till  we  are  made  holy  as  he  is  holy,  till 
we  have  a  divine  change  past  upon  us,  whereby  we  are 
created  anew  and  reformed  in  heart  and  practice.  And 
this  life  is  the  only  time  given  us  for  this  important  change. 
If  this  life  be  finished  before  the  image  of  God  be  restored 
to  us,  this  image  will  never  be  restored ;  but  we  shall  bear 
the  likeness  of  devils  for  ever;  and  perhaps  the  image 
of  the  brute  too  at  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  and  be 
further  off  from  God  and  all  that  is  holy  than  ever  we 
were  here  upon  earth. 

Of  what  infinite  importance  is  it  then  to  be  frequently 
awakening  ourselves  at  special  seasons  and  periods  of  life 
to  enquire,  whether  this  image  of  God  is  begun  to  be 
renewed,  whether  we  have  this  glorious  change  wrought 
in  us,  whether  our  desires  and  delights  are  fixed  upon 
holy  and  heavenly  things,  instead  of  those  sensual  and 
earthly  objects  which  draw  away  all  our  souls  from  God 
and  heaven.  Let  it  appear  to  us  as  a  matter  of  utmost 
moment  to  seek  after  this  change;  let  us  pursue  it  with 
unwearied  labours  and  strivings  with  our  own  hearts, 
and  perpetual  importunities  at  the  throne  of  grace,  lest 
the  voice  of  him  who  swears  that,  <  there  shall  be  Time 
no  longer,'  should  seize  us  in  some  unexpected  moment, 
and  lest  he^wear  in  his  wrath  concerning  us,  "let  him 
that  is  unholy  be  unholy  still,  and  let  him  that  is  filthy 
be  filthy  still." 

2.   When  thissentence  is  pronounced  concerningus,  <  the 


THE   END  OP  TIME.  15 

season  and  the  means  of  restoring  us  to  the  favour  and 
love  of  God  shall  be  no  longer.'     We  are  born  '  children 
of  wrath'  as  well  as  the  sons  and  daughters  of  iniquity, 
Ephes.   ii.  2.     We  have  lost  the  original  favour  ef,  our 
Maker  and  are  banished  from  his  love,  and  the  superior 
blessings  of  his  goodness;  and  yet,  blessed  be  the  Lord, 
that  we  are  not  at  present  for  ever  banished  beyond  all 
hope :  This '  Time  of  life'  is  given  us  to  seek  the  recovery  of 
the  love  of  God,  by  returning  to  him  according  to  the 
gospel  of  his  Son  :    Now  is  pardon  and  peace,  now  is 
grace  and  salvation  preached  unto  men,  to  sinful  wretched 
men,  who  are  at  enmity  with  God  and  the  objects  of  his 
high  displeasure  ;  now  the  voice  of  mercy  calls  to  us, 
"This  is  the  accepted  time,  this  is  the  day  of  salvation," 
2  Cor.  vi.  2.     "To-day  if  ye  will  hear  his  voice,  let  not 
your  hearts  be  hardened  to  refuse  it:"    Now  the  fountain 
of  the  blood  of  Christ  is  set  open  to  wash  our  souls  from 
the  guilt  of  sin;  now  all  the  springs  of  his  mercy  are  broken 
up  in  the  ministrations  of  the  gospel:     Now  '  God  is  in 
Christ  reconciling  sinners  to  himself,'  and  'he  has  sent  us,' 
his  ministers,    'to  intreat  you  in  Christ's  stead,  be  ye 
reconciled  to  God ;'  and  we  beseech  you  in  his  name, 
continue  not  one  day,  or  one  hour,  longer  in  your  enmity 
and  rebellion,  but  be  ye  reconciled  to  God  your  Creator, 
and  accept  of  his  offered  forgiveness  and  grace.  2  Cor.  v.  20. 
The  moment  is  hastening  upon  us  when  this  mighty 
angel,  who  manages  the  affairs  of  the  kingdom  of  Provi- 
dence, shall  swear  concerning  every  unbelieving  and  im- 
penitent sinner,  that  the  l  Time  of  offered  mercy  shall  be 
no  longer,  the  time  of  pardon  and  grace  and  reconciliation 
ehall  be  no  more:'     The  sound  of  this  mercy  reaches  not 
to  the  regions  of  the  dead;  those  who  die  before  they  are 
reconciled,  die  under  the  load  of  all  their  sins,  and  must 
perish  for  ever,  without  the  least  hope  or  glimpse  of  recon- 
ciling or  forgiving  grace. 

3.  At  the  term  of  this  mortal  life,  'the  Time  of  prayer  and 
repentance  and  service,  for  God  or  man,  in  this  world,  shall 
be  no  longer.'  Eccl.  ix.  10.  "There  is  no  work  nor  device, 
nor  knowledge,  nor  wisdom,  in  the  grave  whither  thou 
goest,"  whither  we  are  all  hastening.  Let  every  sinful 
creature  therefore  ask  himself,  '  Have  I  never  yet  begun 
to  pray  ?  Never  begun  to  call  upon  the  mercy  of  God  that 
made  me  ?  Never  begun  to  repent  of  all  my  crimes 


16  THE  END  OF  TIME. 

and  follies  ?  Nor  begun  in  good  earnest  to  do  service  for 
God,  or  to  honour  him  amongst  men  ?'  Dreadful  thought 
indeed !  when,  it  may  be,  the  next  hour,  we  may  be  put 
outof  all  capacity  and  opportunity  to  do  itfor  ever!  Assoon 
as  ever  an  impenitent  sinner  has  the  vail  of  death  drawn 
over  him,  all  his  opportunities  of  this  kind  are  for  ever 
cutoff.  He  that  has  never  repented,  never  prayed,  never 
honoured  his  God,  shall  never  be  able  to  pray,  or  repent, 
or  do  any  thing  for  God,  or  his  honour,  through  all  the  ages 
of  his  future  immortality.  Nor  is  there  any  promise  made 
to  returning  or  repenting  sinners  in  the  other  world, 
whither  we  are  hastening.  "As  the  tree  falls,"  when 
it  is  cut  down,  "so  it  lies,"  and  it  must  for  ever  lie, 
'pointing  to  the  north  or  the  south,'  to  hell  or  heaven, 
Eccles.  xi.  3. 

And,  indeed,  no  true  prayer,  no  sincere  repentance  can 
be  exercised  after  this  life ;  for  the  soul  that  has  wasted 
away  all  its  time  given  for  repentance  and  prayer,  is,  at 
the  moment  of  death,  left  under  everlasting  hardness  of 
heart ;  and  whatsoever  enmity  against  God  and  godliness 
was  found  in  the  heart  in  this  world  is  increased  in  the 
world  to  come,  when  all  manner  of  softening  means  and 
mercies  are  ever  at  an  end.  This  leads  me  to  the  next 
thought. 

4.  'How  wretched  soever  our  state  is  at  death,  the  day 
of  hope  is  ended,  and  it  returns  no  more. '  Be  our  cir- 
cumstances never  so  bad,  yet  we  are  not  completely 
wretched  while  the  time  of  hope  remains.  We  are  all 
by  nature  miserable  by  reason  of  sin,  but  it  is  only  despair 
that  can  perfect  our  misery.  Therefore  fallen  angels  are 
sealed  up  under  misery  because  there  is  no  door  of  hope 
opened  for  them.  But  in  this  life  there  is  hope  for  the 
worst  of  sinful  men  :  There  is  the  word  of  grace  and 
hope  calling  them  in  the  gospel  ;  there  is  the  voice  of  di- 
vine mercy  sounding  in  the  sanctuary,  and  '  blessed  are 
they  that  hear  the  joyful  sound.'  But  if  we  turn  the  deaf 
ear  to  the  voice  of  God  and  his  Son,  and  to  all  the  tender 
and  compassionate  intreaties  of  a  dying  Saviour,  hope  is 
hastening  to  its  period ;  for  this  very  angel  will  shortly 
swear,  that  this  joyful  sound  shall  be  heard  no  longer. 

He  comes  now  to  the  door  of  our  hearts,  he  sues  there 
for  admittance,   l  Open  unto  me  and  receive  me  as  your 
and  your  Lord,  give  me  and  my  gospel  free  ad- 


THE  END  OP  TIME.  17 

mission,  and  I  will  come  in  and  bestow  upon  you  the 
riches  of  my  grace  and  all  my  salvation  :  Open  your 
hearts  to  me  with  the  holy  desires  and  humble  submission 
of  penitence,  and  receive  the  blessings  of  righteousness, 
and  pardon,  and  eternal  life.'  He  now  invites  you  to 
return  to  God  with  an  acknowledgement  and  renunciation 
of  every  sin,  and  he  offers  to  take  you  by  the  hand  and 
introduce  yoa  into  his  Father's  presence  with  comfort. 
This  is  a  day  of  hope  for  the  vilest  and  most  hateful  crimi- 
nals; but  if  you  continue  to  refuse^  he  will  shortly  swear 
in  his  wrath,  that  you  shall  never  enter  into  his  kingdom, 
you  shall  never  taste  of  the  provisions  of  his  grace,  you 
shall  never  be  partakers  of  the  blessings  purchased  with 
his  blood,  Heb.  iii.  18.  "I  sware  in. my  wrath,"  saith 
the  Lord,  "they  sbill  not  enter  into  my  rest." 

Oh  the  dreadful  state  of  sinful  creatures,  who  continue 
in  such  obstinacy,  who  waste  away  the  means  of  grace 
and  the  seasons  of  hope,  week  after  week,  and  month 
after  month,  till  the  day  of  grace  and  hope  is  for  ever  at 
an  end  with  them!  Hopeless  creatures!  Under  the  power 
and  the  plague  of  sin,  under  the  wrath  and  curse  of  a 
God,  under  the  eternal  displeasure  of  Jesus  who  was  once 
the  minister  of  his  Father's  love;  and  they  must  abide 
under  all  this  wretchedness  through  a  long  eternity,  and 
in  the  land  of  everlasting  despair.  But  I  forbear  that 
theme  at  present,  and  proceed. 

5.  At  the  moment  of  our  death,  f  the  Time  of  our  pre- 
paration for  the  hour  of  judgment,  and  for  the  insurance 
of  heaven  and  happiness  shall  be  no  longer.'  Miserable 
creatures  that  are  summoned  to  die  thus  unprepared! 
This  life  is  the  only  time  to  prepare  for  dying,  to  get 
ready  to  stand  before  the  Judge  of  the  whole  earth,  and 
to  secure  our  title  to  the  heavenly  blessedness.  Let  my 
heart  inquire,  '  Have  I  ever  seriously  begun  to  prepare 
for  a  dying  hour,  and  to  appear  before  the  Judge  of  all  ? 
Have  I  ever  concerned  myself  in  good  earnest  to  secure 
an  interest  in  the  heavenly  inheritance,  when  this  earthly 
tabernacle  shall  be  dissolved  ?  Have  I  ever  made  interest 
for  the  favour  of  God  and  a  share  of  the  inheritance  of  the 
saints,  by  Jesus  the  great  Mediator  while  he  afforded  life 
and  time  !'  Death  is  daily  and  hourly  hastening  upon  us: 
Death  is  the  'king  of  terrors,'  and  will  fulfil  all  his  name 
to  every  soul  that  is  unprepared.  It  is  a  piece  of  wisdom 

3  B2 


18  THE  END  OP  TIME. 

then  for  every  one  of  us,  since  we  must  die,  to  search 
and  feel  whether  death  has  lost  its  sting  or  no:  whether 
it  be  taken  away  hy  the  blood  of  Christ :  Is  this  blood 
sprinkled  on  my  conscience  by  the  humble  exercise  of 
faith  on  a  dying  Saviour  ?  Are  the  terrors  of  death  re- 
moved, and  am  I  prepared  .to  meet  it  by  the  sanctifying 
influences  of  the  blessed  Spirit  ?  Have  -I  such  an  interest 
in  the  covenant  of  grace  as  takes  away  the  sting  of  death, 
as  turns  the  curse  into  a  blessing,  and  changes  the  dark 
scene  of  death  into  t)ie  commencement  of  u  new  and 
everlasting  life  ?  This  is  that  preparation  for  dying  for 
which  our  time  of  life  was  given  us ;  and  happy  are  those 
who  are  taught  of  God  to  make  this  use  of  it. 

Judgment  is  making  haste  towards  us ;  months  and  days 
of  divine  patience  are  flying  swrft  away,  and  the  last  great 
day  is  just  at  hand:  Then  we  must  give  an  account  of  "all 
that  has  been  done  in  the  body  whether  it  has  been  good 
or  evil:"  And  what  a  dismal  and  distressing  surprise  will 
it  be  to  have  the  Judge  come  upon  us  in  a  blaze  of  glory 
and  terror,  while  we  have  no  good  account  to  give  at  Jiis 
demand  ?  And  yet  this  is  the  very  end  and  design  of  all 
our  time,  which  is  lengthened  out  to  us  on  this  side  the 
grave,  and  of  all  the  advantages  that  we  have  enjoyed  in 
this  life,  that  we  may  be  ready  to  render  up  our  account 
with  joy  to  the  Judge  of  all  the. earth. 

Heaven  is  not  ours  by  birth  and  inheritance,  as  lands 
and  houses  on  earth  descend  to  us  from  our  earthly  parents. 
We,  as  well  as  they,  are  by  nature  unfit  for  heaven  and 
children  of  wrath;  but  we  may  be  born  again,  we  may  be 
born  of  God,  and  become  heirs  of  the  heavenly  inheritance 
through  Jesus  Christ.  We  may  be  renewed  into  the  tem- 
per and  spirit  of  heaven;  and  this  life  is  the  only  season 
that  is  given  us  for  this  important  change.  Shall  we  let 
our  days  and  years  pass  away  one  after  another  in  long 
succession,  and  continue  the  children  of  wrath  still  ?  Are 
we  contented  to  go  on  this  year  as  the  last,  without  a 
title  to  heaven,  without  a  divine  temper,  and  without  any 
preparation  for  the  business  or  the  blessedness  of  that 
happy  world  ? 

6.  When  this  life  comes  to  an  end,  'the  time  of  all  our 
earthly  comforts  and  amusements  shall  be  no  more.'  We 
shall  have  none  of  these  sensible  things  around  us,  to 
employ  to  entertain  our  eyes  or  our  ears,  to  gratify  our 


THE   END  OP  TIME.  19 

appetites,  to  soothe  our  passions,  or  to  support  our  spirits 
in  distress.  All  the  infinite  variety  of  cares,  labours 
and  joys,  which  surround  us  here,  shall  be  no  more  ; 
life,  with  all  the  busy  scenes  and  pleasing  satisfactions  of 
it  dissolve  and  perish  together.  Have  a  care  then  that  you 
do  not  make  any  of  them  your  chief  hope ;  for  they  are 
but  the  things  of  time ;  they  are  all  short  and  dying  en- 
joyments. 

Under  the  various  calamities  of  this  life  we  find  a  varie- 
ty of  sensible  reliefs,  and  our  thoughts  and  souls  are  called 
away -from  their  sorrows  by  present  business,  or  diverted 
by  present  pleasures;  but  all  these  avocations  and  amuse- 
ments will  forsake  us  at  once,  when  we  drop  this  mortal 
tabernacle;  we  must  enter  alone  into  the  world  of  spirits, 
and  live  without  them  there. 

Whatsoever  agonies  or  terrors,  or  huge  distresses,  we 
may  meet  with  in  that  unknown  region,  we  shall  have 
none  of  these  sensible  enjoyments  to  soften  and  allay 
them,  no  drop  of  sweetness  to  mix  with  that  bitter  cup, 
no  scenes  of  gaiety  and  merriment  to  relieve  the  gloom 
of  that  utter  darkness,  or  to  soothe  the  anguish  of  that 
eternal  heart-ate.  0  take  heed,  my  friends,  that  your 
souls  do  not  live  too  much  on  any  of  the  satisfactions  of 
this  life,  that  your  affections  be  not  setupon  them  in  too  high 
a  degree,  that  you  make  them  not  your  idols  and  your 
chief  gorod,  lest  you  be  left  helpless  land  miserable  under 
everlasting  disappointment,  for  they  cannot  follow  you 
into  the  world  of  souls.  They  are  the  things  of  time,  and 
they  have  no  place  in  eternity.  Read  what  caution  the 
apostle  Paul  gives  us  in .  our  converse  with  the  dearest 
comforts  of  life;  1  Cor.  vii.  39.  "The  time  is  short;" 
and  let  those  who  have  the  largest  affluence  of  temporal 
blessings,  who  have  the  nearest  and  kindest  relatives,  and 
themost  endeared  friendships,  be  mortified  to  them,  and  be, 
in  some  sense,  'as  though  they  had  them  not,'  for  ye  can- 
not possess  them  long.  St.  Peter  joins  in  the  same  sort 
of  advice,  1  Pet.  iv.  7.  "  The  end  of  all  things  is  at  hand, 
therefore  be  ye  sober,"  be  ye  moderate  in  every  enjoy- 
ment on  earth,  and  prepare  to  part  with  them  all,  when 
the  angel  pronounces  that '  Time  shall  be  no  longer.'  His 
sentence. puts  an  effectual  period  to  every  joy  in  this  life, 
and  to  every  hope  that  is  not  eternal. 

There  we  have  taken  a  brief  survey,  what  are  the  solemn 


20  THE  END  OP  TUVTE. 

and  awful  thoughts  relating  to  '  such  mortal  creatures  in 
general,'  which  are  contained  in  this  voice  or  sentence  of 
the  angel,  'That  Time  shall  be  no  longer.' 

In  the  second  place  let  us  proceed  further,  and  inquire 
a  little  '  what  are  those  terrors  which  will  attend  sinners, 
impenitent  sinners,  at  the  end  of  time.' 

1.  A  dreadful  account    must  be  given  of  all  this  lost 
and  wasted  time.  When  the  Judge  shall  ascend  his  throne 
in  the  air,  and  all  the  sons  and  daughters  of  Adam  are 
brought  before  him,  the  grand  inquiry  will  be,  '  What 
have  you  done  with  all  the  time  of  life  in  yonder  world  ? 
You  spent  thirty  or  forty  years  there,  or  perhaps  seventy 
or  eighty,  and  I  gave  yo'u  this  time  with  a  thousand  oppor- 
tunities and  means  of  grace  and  salvation ;  what  have  you 
done  with  them  all  ?     How  many  sabbaths  did  I  .afford 
you  ?     How  many  sermons  have  ye  heard  ?     How  many 
seasons  did  I  give  you  for  prayer  and  retirement,  and  con- 
verse with  God  and  your  own  souls  ?     Did  you  improve 
time  well  ?     Did  you  pray  ^  Did  you  converse  with  your 
souls  and  with  God  ?     Or  did  you  suffer  time  to  slide  a- 
way  in  a  thousand  impertinencies,  and  neglect  the  one 
thing  necessary  ?' 

2.  '  A  fruitless  and  bitter  mourning  for  the  waste  and 
abuse  of  time'  will  be  another  consequence  of  your  foljy. 
Whatsoever  satisfaction  you  may  take  now  in  passing  time 
away  merrily  and  without  thinking,  it  must  not  pass  away 
so  for  ever.     If  the  approaches  of  death  do  not  awaken 
you,  yefe  judgment  will  do  it.     Your  consciences  will  be 
worried-!  with  terrible  reflections  on  your  foolish  conduct. 

0  could  we  but  hear  the  complaints  of  the  souls  in  hell, 
what  multitudes  of  them  would  be  found  groaning  out  this 
dismal  note,  'How  hath  my  time  been  lost  in  vanity,  and 
my  soul  is  now  lost  for  ever  in  distress:  How  might  I  have 
shone  among  the  saints  in  heaven,  had  I  wisely  improved 
the  time  which  was  given  me  on  earth,  given  me  on  pur- 
pose to  prepare  for  death  and  heaven?'  Then  they  will 
for  ever  curse  themselves,  and  call  themselves  eternal  fools, 
for  hearkening  to  the  temptations  of  flesh  and  sense,  which 
wasted  their  time,  and  deprived  them  of  eternal  treasures. 

3.  Another  of  the  terrors  which  will  seize  upon  impeni- 
tent sinners  at  the  end  of  time,  will  be  '  endless  despair 
of  the  recovery  of  lost  time,  and  of  those  blessings  whose 
hope  is  for  ever  lost  with  it'   There  are  blessings  offered 


THE  END  OF  TIME.  21 

to  sinful  miserable  men  in  time,  which  will  never  be  of- 
fered in  eternity,  nor  put  within  their  reach  for  ever. 
The  gospel  hath  no  calls,  no  invitations,  no  encouragements, 
no  promises  for  the  dead,  who  have  lost  and  wasted  their 
time,  and  are  perished  without  hope.  The  region  of  sor- 
row, whither  the  Judge  shall  drive  impenitent  sinners,  is 
a  dark  and  desolate  place,  where  light  and  hope  can  never 
come:  But  fruitless  repentance,  with  horrors  and  agonies 
of  soul,  and  doleful  despair  reign  through  that  world, 
without  one  gleam  of  light  or  hope,  or  one  moment  of 
intermission.  Then  will  despairing  sinners  gnaw  their 
tongues  for  anguish  of  heart,  and  curse  themselves  with 
long  execrations,  and  curse  their  fellow  sinners,  who  assis- 
ted them  to  waste  their  time,  and  ruin  their  souls. 

4.  The  last  terror  I  shall  mention  which  will  attend  sin- 
ners at  the  end  of  time,  is  an  '  eternal  suffering  of  all  the 
painful  and  dismal  consequences  of  lost  and  wasted  time.' 
Not  one  smile  from  the  face  of  God  for  ever,  not  one 
glimpse  of  love  or  mercy  in  his  countenance,  not  one 
word  of  grace  from  Jesus  Christ,  who  was  once  the  chief 
messenger  of  the  grace  of  God,  nnt  nnp  favourable  regard 
from  all  the  holy  saints  and  angels;  but  the  fire  and  brim- 
stone burn  without  end,  "  and  the  smoke  of  this  their  tor- 
ment will  ascend  for  ever  and  ever  before  the  throne  of 
God  and  the  Lamb." 

Who  knows  how  keen  and  bitter  will  be  the  agonies  of 
an  awakened  conscience,  and  the  vengeance  of  a  provoked 
God  in  that  world  of  misery  ?  How  will  you  cry  out, 
'  0  what  a  wretch  have  I  been  to  renounce  all  the  ad- 
vices of  a  compassionate  father,  when  he  would  have  per- 
suaded me  to  improve  the  time  of  youth  and  health!  Alas, 
I  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  his  advice,  and  now  time  is  lost, 
and  my  hopes  of  mercy  for  ever  perished.  How  have  I 
treated  with  ridicule  among  my  vain  companions  the 
compassionate  and  pious  counsels  of  my  aged  parents  who 
laboured  for  my  salvation  ?  How  have  I  scorned  the 
tender  admonitions  of  a  mother,  and  wasted  that  time 
in  sinning  and  sensuality  which  should  have  been  spent  in 
prayer  and  devotion  ?  And  God  turns  a  deaf  ear  to  my 
cries  now,  and  is  regardless  of  all  my  groanings.'  This 
sort  of  anguish  of  spirit  with  loud  and  cutting  complaints 
would  destroy  life  itself,  and  these  inward  terrors  would 
sting  their  souls  to  death,  if  there  could  be  any  such  thing 


22  THE  END  OF  TIME. 

as  dying  there.  Such  sighs  and  sobs  and  bitter  agonic* 
would  break  their  hearts,  and  dissolve  their  being,  if 
the  heart  could  break,  or  the  being  could  be  dissolv- 
ed. But  immortality  is  their  dreadful  portion,  immortal- 
ity of  sorrows  to  punish  their  wicked  and  wilful  abuse 
of  time,  and  that  waste  of  the  means  of  grace  they  were 
guilty  of  in  their  mortal  state. 

I  proceed  in  the  last  place  to  consider  what  reflections 
may  be  made  on  this  discourse,  or  what  are  some  of  the 
profitable  lessons  to  be  learnt  from  it. 

Reflect.  1.  We  may  learn  with  great  evidence  'the 
inestimable  worth  and  value  of  time,  and  particularly  to 
those  who  are  not  prepared  for  eternity.'  Every  hour 
you  live  is  an  hour  longer  given  you  to  prepare  for  dy- 
ing, and  to  save  a  soul.  If  you  were  but  apprized  of  the 
worth  of  your  own  souls,  you  would  better  know  the  worth 
of  days  and  hours,  and  of  every  passing  moment,  for 
they  are  given  to  secure  your  immortal  interest,  and  save 
a  soul  from  everlasting  misery.  And  you  would  be  zeal- 
ous and  importunate  in  the  prayer  of  Moses,  the  man  of 
God,  upon  a  meditation  of  the.  shortness  of  life,  Psal.  xc. 
12.  "  So  teach  us  to  number  our  days,  as  to  apply  our 
hearts  to  wisdom  ;"  i.  e.  so  teach  us  to  consider  how  few 
and  uncertain  our  days  are,  that  we  may  be  truly  wise  in 
preparing  for  the  end  of  them. 

It  is  a  matter  of  vast  importance  to  be  ever  ready  for 
the  end  of  time,  ready  to  hear  this  awful  sentence  con- 
firmed with  the  oath  of  the  glorious  angel,  that  « Time 
shall  be  no  longer.'  The  terrors  or  the  comforts  of  a  dy- 
ing bed  depend  upon  it :  the  solemn  and  decisive  voice  of 
judgment  depends  upon  it :  the  joys  and  the  sorrows  of  a 
long  eternity  depend  upon  it.  Go  now,  careless  sinner, 
and  in  the  view  of  such  things  as  these,  go  and  trifle  away 
time  as  you  have  done  before  ;  time,  that  invaluable  treas- 
ure !  Go  and  venture  the  loss  of  your  souls,  and  the  hopes 
of  heaven  and  your  eternal  happiness,  in  wasting  away 
the  remnant  hours  or  moments  of  life.  But  remember 
the  awful  voice  of  the  angel  is  hastening  towards  you,  and 
the  sound  is  just  breaking  in  upon  you,  that  '  Time  shall 
be  no  longer.' 

Reflect.  II.  '  A  due  sense  of  time  hastening  to  its  pe- 
riod, will  furnish  us  with  perpetual  new  occasions  of  holy 
meditation. 


THE  END  OP  TIMU.  23 

Do  I  observe  the  declining  day  and  the  setting  sun  sink- 
ing into  darkness  ?  so  declines  the  day  of  life,  the  hours  of 
labour,  and  the  season  of  grace.  0  may  I  finish  my  ap- 
pointed work  with  honour,  before  the  light  is  fled !  May 
I  improve  the  shining  hours  of  grace  before  the  shadows 
of  the  evening  overtake  me,  and  my  time  of  working  is  no 
more! 

Do  I  see  the  moon  gliding  along  through  midnight,  and 
fulfilling  her  stages  in  the  dusky  sky  ?  This  planet  also  is 
measuring  out  my  life,  and  bringing  the  number  of  my 
months  to  their  end.  May  I  be  prepared  to  take  leave  of 
the  sun  and  moon,  and  bid  adieu  to  these  visible  heav- 
ens and  all  the  twinkling  glories  of  them!  These  are  all 
but  the  measurers  of  my  time,  and  hasten  me  on  towards 
eternity. 

Am  I  walking  in  a  garden,  and  stand  still  to  observe  the 
slow  motion  of  the  shadow  upon  a  dial  there  ?  It  passes 
over  the  hour  lines  with  an  imperceptible  progress,  yet  it 
will  touch  the  last  line  of  day-light  shortly:  so  my  hours 
and  my  moments  move  onward  with  a  silent  pace  ;  but 
they  will  arrive  with  certainty  at  the  last  limit,  how  heed- 
less soever  I  am  of  their  motion,  and  how  thoughtless  so- 
ever I  may  be  of  the  improvement  of  time,  or  of  the 
end  of  it. 

Does  a  new  year  commence,  and  the  first  morning  of  it 
dawn  upon  me  ?  Let  me  remember  that  the  last  year  was 
finished,  and  has  gone  over  my  head,  in  order  to  make 
way  for  the  entrance  of  the  present.  I  have  one  year  the 
less  to  travel  through  this  world,  and  to  fulfil  the  various 
services  of  a  travelling  state.  May  my  diligence  in  duty 
be  doubled,  since  the  number  of  my  appointed  years  is 
diminished. 

Do  I  find  a  new  birth-day  in  my  survey  of  the  kalendar, 
the  day  wherein  I  entered  upon  the  stage  of  mortality,  and 
was  born  into  this  world  of  sins,  frailties  and  sorrows,  in 
order  to  my  probation  for  a  better  state  ?  Blessed  Lord,  how 
much  have  I  spent  already  of  this  mortal  life,  this  season 
of  my  probation,  and  how  little  am  I  prepared  for  that 
happier  world ?  How  unready  for  my  dying  moment?  I 
am  hastening  hourly  to  the  end  of  the  life  of  man,  which 
began  with  my  nativity;  am  I  yet  born  of  God  ?  Have  I 
begun  the  life  of  a  saint?  Am  I  prepared  for  that  awful 
day  which  shall  determine  the  numbed  of  my  months  on 


24  THE  END  OF  TIME. 

earth  ?  Am  I  fit  to  be  born  into  the  world  of  spirits 
through  the  strait  gate  of  death  ?  Am  I  renewed  in  all  the 
powers  of  my  nature,  and  made  meet  to  enter  into  that 
unseen  world,  where  there  shall  be  no  more  of  these  re- 
volutions of  days  and  years  ;  but  one  eternal  day  fills  up  all 
the  space  with  divine  pleasure,  or  one  eternal  night  with 
long  and  deplorable  distress  and  darkness  ? 

When  I  see  a  friend  expiring,  or  the  corpse  of  my  neigh- 
bour conveyed  to  the  grave,  alas!  their  months  and  min- 
utes are  all  determined,  and  the  seasons  of  their  trial  are 
finished  for  ever;  they  are  gone  to  their  eternal  home,  and 
the  estate  of  their  souls  is  fixed  unchangeably.  The  angel 
that  has  sworn  their  'time  shall  be  no  longer,'  has  conclud- 
ed their  hopes,  or  has  finished  their  fears,  and,  according 
to  the  rules  of  righteous  judgment,  has  decided  their  misery 
or  happiness  for  a  long  immortality.  Take  this  warning, 
0  my  soul,  and  think  of  thy  own  removal. 

Are  we  standing  in  the  church-yard,  paying  the  last  hon- 
ours to  the  relics  of  our  friends  ?  What  a  number  of  hillocks 
of  death  appear  all  round  us?  What  are  the  tomb-stones, 
but  memorials  of  the  inhabitants  of  that  town,  to  inform 
us  of  the  periods  of  all  their  lives,  and  to  point  out  the 
day  when  it  was  said  to  each  of  them,  *  your  time  shall  be 
no  longer.'  0  may  I  readily  learn  this  important  lesson, 
that  my  turn  is  hastening  too;  such  a  little  hillock  shall 
shortly  arise  for  me  in  some  unknown  spot  of  ground, 
it  shall  cover  this  flesh  and  these  bones  of  mine  in  dark- 
ness, and  shall  hide  them  from  the  light  of  the  sun,  and 
from  the  sight  of  man  till  the  heavens  be  no  more. 

Perhaps  some  surviving  friend  may  engrave  my  name 
with  the  number  of  my  days,  upon  a  plain  funeral  stone, 
without  ornament  and  below  envy.  There  shall  my  tomb 
stand  among  the  rest  as  a  fresh  monument  of  the  frailty 
of  nature  and  the  end  of  time.  It  is  possible  some  friend- 
ly foot  may  now  and  then  visit  the  place  of  my  repose, 
and  some  tender  eye  may  bedew  the  cold  memorial  with 
a  tear.  One  or  another  of  my  old  acquaintance  may  pos- 
sibly attend  there  to  learn  the  silent  lecture  of  mortality 
from  my  grave  stone,  which  my  lips  are  now  preaching  a- 
loud  to  the  world.  And  if  love  and  sorrow  should  reach 
so  far,  perhaps  while  his  soul  is  melting  in  his  eyelids,  and 
his  voice  scarce  finds  an  utterance,  he  will  point  with  his 
finger,  and  shew  his  companion  the  month  and  the  day  of 


THE  END  OF  TIME.  25 

my  decease.  0  that  solemn,  that  awful  day,  which  shall 
finish  my  appointed  time  on  earth,  and  put  a  full  period  to 
all  the  designs  of  my  heart,  and  all  the  labours  of  my 
tongue  and  pen!  , 

Think,  0  my  soul,  that  while  friends  and  strangers  are 
engaged  on  that  spot,  and  reading  the  date  of  thy  departure 
hence,  thou  wilt  be  fixed  under  a  decisive  and  unchange- 
able sentence,  rejoicing  in  the  rewards  of  time  well-im- 
proved, or  suffering  the  long,  sorrows  which  shall  attend 
the  abuse  of  it,  in  an  unknown  world  of  happiness  or  misery. 
Reflect.  III.  We  may  'learn  from  this  discourse,   the 
'stupid  folly  and  madness  of  those  who  are  terribly  afraid 
•of  the  end  of  time,  whensoever  they  think  of  it,  and  yet 
they  know,  not  what  to  do  with  their  time  as  it  runs  off 
daily  and  hourly.'     They  find  their  souls   unready   for 
death,  and  yet  they  live  from  year  to  year  without  any 
further  preparation  for  dying.     They  waste  away  their 
hours  of  leisure  in  mere  trifling,  they  lose  their  seasons  of 
grace,  their  means  and  opportunities  of   salvation,  in  a 
thoughtless  and  shameful  manner,  as  though  they  had  no 
business  to  employ  them  in;  they  live  as  though  they  had 
nothing  to  do  with  all  their  time  but  to  eat  and  drink,  and 
be  easy  and  merry.     From  the  rising  to  the  setting  sun 
you  find  them  still  in  pursuit  of  impertinencies;  they  waste 
God's  sacred  time  as  well  as  their  own,  either  in  a  lazy,  in- 
dolent, And  careless  humour,  or  in  following  after  vanity,  sin 
and  madness,  while  the  end  of  time  is  hastening  upon  them. 
What  multitudes  are  there  of  the  race  of  Adam,  both  in 
higher  and  lower  ranks,  who  are  ever  complaining  they 
want  leisure,  and  when  they  have  a  release  from  business 
for  .one  day,  or  one  hour,  they  hardly  know  what  to  do 
with  that  idle  day,  or  how  to  lay  out  one  of  the  hours  of 
it  for  any  valuable  purpose  ?     Those  in  higher  station  and 
richer  circumstances,  have  most  of  their  time  at  their  own 
command  and  disposal :  but  by  their  actual  disposal  of  it, 
you  plainly  see  they  know  not  what  it  is  good  for,  nor 
what  use  to  make  of  it;  they  are  quite  at  a  loss  how  to  get 
rid  of  thjs  tedious  thing  called  Time,  which  lies  daily  as  a 
burden  on  their  hands.     Indeed  if  their  head  ake,  or  their 
face  grow  pale,  and  a  physician  feel  their  pulse,   or  look 
wishfully  on  their  countenance;  and,  especially,  if  he  should 
shake  his  head,  or  tell  them  his  fears  that  they  will  not 
hold  out  long,  what  surprise  of  soul,  what  agonies  and  ter- 
4  C 


26  THE  END  OF  TIME. 

rors  seize  them  on  a  sudden,  for  fear  of  the  end  of  time  ? 
For  they  are  conscious  how  unfit  they  are  for  eternity. 
Yet  when  the  pain  vanishes,  and  they  feel  health  again, 
they  are  as  much  at  a  loss  as  ever  what  to  do  with  the 
remnant  of  life. 

0  the  painful  and  the  unhappy  ignorance  of  the  sons 
and  daughters  of  men,  that  are  sent  hither  on  a  trial  for 
eternity,  and  yet  know  not  how  to  pass  away  time!  they 
know  not  how  to  wear  out  life,  and  get  soon  enough  to  the 
end  of  the  day.  '  They  doze  their  hours  away,  or  saunter 
from  place  to  place,'  without  any  design  or  meaning.  They 
enquire  of  every  one  they  meet,  what  they  shall  do  to  kill 
time  (as  the  French  phrase  is,)  because  they  cannot  spend 
it  fast  enough;  they  are  perpetually  calling  in  the  assis- 
tance of  others  to  laugh,  or  sport,  or  trifle  with  them,  and 
to  help  them  off  with  this  dead  weight  of  time,  while,  at 
the  same  moment,  if  you  do  but  mention  the  end  of  ti/ne, 
they  are  dreadfully  afraid  of  coming  near  it  What  folly 
and  distraction  is  this!  What  sottish  inconsistency  is 
found  in  the  heart  and  practice  of  sinful  men!  Eccles.  ix. 
3.  "  The  heart  of  the  sons  of  men,  is  full  of  evil,  madness 
is  in  their  heart  while  they  live,  and  after  that  they  go 
down  to  the  dead." 

0  that  these  loiterers  would  once  consider  that  time  loi- 
ters not;  days  and  hours,  months  and  years,  loiter  not; 
each  of  them  flies  away  with  swiftest  wing,  as  fast  as  suc- 
cession admits  of,  and  bears  them  onward,  to  the  goal  of 
eternity.  If  they  delay  and  linger  among  toys  and  shad- 
ows, time  knows  no  delay;  and  they  will  one  day  learn  by 
bitter  experience  what  substantial,  important,  and  eternal 
blessings  they  have  -lost  by  their  criminal  and  shameful 
waste  of  time.  The  apostle  Peter  assures  them,  2  Pet.  ii. 
3,  though  they  slumber  and  sleep  in  a  lethargy  of  sin,  so 
that  you  cannot  awaken  them,  yet  'their  judgment  linger- 
eth  not,  and  their  damnation  slumbereth  not'  The  awful 
moment  is  hasting  upon  them  which  shall  teach  them 
terribly  the  true  value  of  time.  Then  they  would  give 
all  the  golden  pleasures,  and  the  riches  and  the  grandeur 
of  this  world,  to  purchase  one  short  day  more,  or  one  hour 
of  time,  wherein  they  might  repent  and  return  to  God, 
and  get  within  the  reach  of  hope  and  salvation.  But  time 
and  salvation  and  hope  are  all  vanished,  and  fled,  and  gone 
out  of  their  reach  for  ever. 


THE  END  OP  TIME. 


27 


Reflect.  IV.  Learn  from  such  meditations  as  these, '  the 
rich  mercy  of  God,  and  the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
in  giving  us  so  long  a  warning,  before  he  swears  that  time 
shall  be  no  more."1  Every  stroke  of  sickness  is  a  warning- 
piece  that  life  is  coming  to  its  period :  every  death  amongst 
our  friends  and  acquaintance,  is  another  tender  and  painful 
admonition  that  our  death  also  is  at  hand.  The  end  of  ev- 
ery week  and  every  dawning  Sabbath  is  another  warning; 
every  sermon  we  hear  of  the  'shortness  of  time/  and  the 
1  uncertainty  of  life/  is  a  fresh  intimation  that  the  great 
angel  will  shortly  pronounce  a  period  upon  all  our  time. 
How  inexcusable  shall  we  be  if  we  turn  the  deaf  ear  to 
all  these  warnings  ?  St  Peter  advises  us  to  "count  the  long- 
suffering  of  the  Lord  for  salvation,"  2  Pet  iii.  15;  and 
to  secure  our  eternal  safety,  and  our  escape  from  hell,  du- 
ring the  season  of  his  lengthened  grace. 

Alas!  how  long  has  Jesus,  and  his  mercy,  and  his  gos- 
pel, waited  on  you,  before  you  began  to  think  of  the  things 
of  your  everlasting  peace  ?  And  if  you  are  now  solemn- 
ly awakened,  yet  how  long  has  he  waited  on  you  with  fresh 
admonitions,  and  with  special  providences,  with  mercies 
and  judgments,  with  promises  and  invitations  of  grace,  with 
threatenings  and  words  of  terror,  and  with  the  whispers  and 
advices  of  his  own  Spirit,  since  you  began  to  see  your  dan- 
ger ?  And  after  all,  have  you  yet  sincerely  repented  of  sin  ? 
Have  you  yet  received  the  offered  grace  ?  Have  you  given  up 
yourselves  to  the  Lord  and  laid  hold  of  his  salvation  ?  2  Cor. 
vi.2.  "  This  is  the  accepted  time,  this  is  the  day  of  salvation; 
To-day  if  ye  will  hear  his  voice  harden  not  yourhearts."  Heb. 
iii.  7,  8,  &c.  It  is  never  said  through  all  the  Bible,  that 
*  to-morrow  is  the  day  of  grace/  or  l  tomorrow  is  the  time 
of  acceptance.'  It  is  the  present  hour  only  that  is  offered. 
Every  day  and  every  hour  is  a  mercy  of  unknown  impor- 
tance to  sinful  men.  It  is  a  mercy,  0  sinners,  that  you 
awaked  not  this  morning  in  hell,  and  that  you  were  not 
fixed  without  remedy  beyond  the  reach  of  hope  and  mercy. 

Reflect.  V.  Learn  from  this  discourse  what '  a  very  use- 
ful practice  it  would  be  to  set  ourselves  often  before  hand 
as  at  the  end  of  time/  to  imagine  ourselves  just  under  the 
sound  of  the  voice  of  this  mighty  angel,  or  at  the  tribunal 
of  Christ,  and  to  call  our  souls  to  a  solemn  account  in  what 
manner  we  have  past  away  all  our  leisure  time  hitherto:  I 
mean,  all  that  time  which  hath  not  been  laid  out  in  the 


28  THE  END  OP  TIME. 

necessities  of  the  natural  life,  for  its  support  and  its  need- 
ful refreshment,  or  in  the  due  and  proper  employments  of 
the  civil  life :  both  these  are  allowed  and  required  by  the 
God  of  nature  and  the  God  of  providence  who  governs  the 
world.  But  what  hast  thou  done,  0  man,  Q  woman,  what 
hast  thou  done  with  all  the  hours  of  leisure  which  might 
have  been  laid  out  on  far  better  'employments,  and  to  far 
nobler  purposes  ?  Give  me  leave  to  enter  into  particulars 
a  little,  for  generals  do  but  seldom  convince  the  mind,  or 
awaken  the  conscience,  or  affect  the  heart. 

1.  Have  you  not  '  slumbered  or  squandered*  away  too 
much  time  '  without  any  useful  purpose  or  design'  at  all  ? 
How  many  are  theres  that  when  they  have  morning  hours 
on  their  hands,  can  pass  them  off  on  their  beds,  and  lose 
and  forget  time  ih  '  a  little  more  sleep  and  a  little  more 
slumber;'  a  few  impertinences,  with  breakfast  and  dressing, 
wear  out  the  morning  without  God.  And  how  many  af- 
ternoon and  evening  hours  are  worn  away  in  such  saunter- 
ing idleness  as  I  have  described,  that  when  the  night  comes 
they  cannot  review  one  half  hour's  useful  work,  from  the 
dawn  of  morning  to  the  hour  of  rest.  Time  is  gone  and 
vanished,  and  as  they  knew  not  what  to  do  with  it  while 
it  was  present,  so  now  it  is  past,  they  know  not  what  they 
have  done  with  it:  they  keep  no  account  of  it,  and  are  ne- 
ver prepared  to  come  to  a  reckoning.  But  will  the  great 
Judge  of  all  take  this  for  answer  to  such  a  solemn  inquiry? 

2.  Have  you  never  laid  out  much  more  time  than  was 
needful  in  '  recreations  and  pleasures  of  sense  ?'  Recreations 
are  not  unlawful,   so  far  as  they  are  necessary  and  proper 
to  relieve  the  fatigue  of  the  spirits,  and  when  they  are  tired 
with  business  or  labour,  and  to  prepare  for  new  labours 
and  new  business  ;  but  have  we  not  followed  sports  with- 
out measure  and  without  due  limitation  ?    Hath  not  some 
of  that  very  time  been  spent  in  them  which  should  have 
been  laid  out  in  preparing  for  death  and  eternity,  and  in 
seeking  things  of  far  higher  importance  ? 

3.  Have  you  not  wasted  too  much  time  in  your  frequent 
clubs,  and  what  you  call  good  company,  and  in  '  places 
of  public  resort  ?'    Hath  not  the  tavern,  or  the  coffee-house, 
or  the  ale-house,   seen  and  known  you  from  hour  to  hour 
for  a. whole  evening,   and  that  sometimes  before  the  trade 
or  labours  of  the  day  should  have  been  ended  ?  And  when 
your  Bible  and  your  closet,  or  the  devotion  of  your  family, 


THE  END  OF  TIME.  29 

have  sometimes  called  upon  your  conscience,  have  you  not 
turned  the  deaf  ear  to  them  all  ? 

4.  Have  not '  useless  and  impertinent  visits'  been  made 
to  no  good  purpose,  or  been  prolonged  beyond  all  neces- 
sity or  improvement  ?  When  your  conversation  runs 
low  even  to  the  dregs,  and  both  you  and  your  friends  have 
been  at  a  loss  what  to  say  next,  and  knew  not  how  to  fill 
up  the  time,  yet  the  visit  must  go  on,  and  time  must  be 
wasted.  Sometimes  the  wind  and  the  weather,  and  twen- 
ty insignificancies,  or  (what  is  much  worse)  scandal  of 
persons  or  families,  have  come  in  to  your  relief,  that  there 
might  not  be  too  long  a  silence;  but  not  one  word  of  God 
or  goodness  could  find  room  to  enter  in  and  relieve  the 
•lull  hour.  Is  none  of  this  time  ever  to  be  accounted  for  ? 
And  will  it  sound  well  in  the  ears  of  the  great  Judge, 
We  ran  to  these  sorry  topics,  these  slanderous  and  back- 
biting stories,  because  \ve  could  not  tell  what  to  talk  of, 
and  we  knew  not  how  to  spend  our  time.' 

5.  Have  you  not  been  guilty  of  '  frequent  and  even  per- 
petual delays  or  neglects  of  your  proper  necessary  business 
in  the  civil  life,  or  in  the  solemn  duties  of  religion,  by  bu- 
sying yourselves  in  some  other  needless  thing  under  this 
pretence,  it  is  time  enough  yet  ?' 

Have  you  learnt  that  important  and  eternal  rule  of  pru- 
dence, '  never  delay  till  to-morrow  what  may  be  done  to- 
day; never  put  off  till  the  next  hour  what  may  be  done  in 
this  ?'  Have  you  not  often  experienced  your  own  disap- 
pointment and  folly  by  these  delays  ?  And  yet  have  you 
ever  so  repented  as  to  learn  to  mend  them  ?  Solomon 
tells  us.  Eccles.  iii.  1.  "There  is  a  time  for  every  purpose, 
and  every  work,  under  the  sun  :"  a  proper  and  agreeable 
time  for  every  lawful  work  of  nature  and  life ;  and  it  is 
the  business  and  care  of  a  w-ise  man  to  '  do  proper  work  in 
proper  time;'  but  when  we  have  let  slip  the  proper  season, 
how  often  have  we  been  utterly  disappointed  ?  Have  we 
not  sustained  great  inconveniencies  ?  And  sometimes  it 
hath  so  happened  that  we  could  never  do  that  work  or  bu- 
siness at  all,  because  another  proper  season  for  it  hath  never 
offered  ?  Time  hath  been  no  more.  Felix  put  off  his  dis- 
course with  Paul  about  the  "  faith  of  Christ,  and  righteous- 
ness, and  judgment  to  come,  to  a  more  convenient  time," 
which  probably  never  came,  Acts  xxiv.  25.  And  the  word 
of  God  teaches  us,  that  if  we  neglect  our  salvation  in  the 

c2 


30  THE  END  OF  TIME. 

present  day  of  grace,  the  angel  in  my  text  is  ready  to  swear^ 
that '  Time  shall  he  no  longer.' 

Here  permit  me  to  put  in  a  short  word  to  those  who 
have  lost  much  time  already. 

0  my  friends,  begin  now  to  do  what  in  you  lies  to  re- 
gain it,  by  double  diligence  in  the  matters  of  your  salvation, 
lest  the  'voice  of  the  arch-angel'  should  finish  your  time  of 
trial,  and  call  you  to  judgment  before  you  are  prepared. 

What  time  lies  before  you  for  this  double  improvement, 
God  only  knows.  The  remnant  of  the  measure  of  your 
days  are  with  him,  and  every  evening  the  number  is  dimin- 
ished. Let  not  the  rising  sun  upbraid  you  with  continued 
negligence.  Remember  your  former  abuses  of  hours,  and 
months,  and  years,  in  folly  and  sin,  or  at  best  in  vanity  and 
trifling.  Let  these  thoughts  of  your  past  conduct  lie  with 
such  an  effectual  weight  on  your  hearts,  as  to  keep  you 
ever  vigorous  in  present  duty.  Since  you  have  been  so 
lazy  and  loitering  in  your  Christian  race  in  time  past,  take 
larger  steps  daily,  and  stretch  all  the  powers  of  your  souls 
to  hasten  towards  the  crown  and  the  prize.  Hearken  to 
the  voice  of  God  in  his  word,  with  stronger  attention  and 
zeal  to  profit.  Pray  to  a  long-suffering  God  with  double 
fervency;  cry  aloud  and  give  him  no  rest  till  your  sinful 
soul  is  changed  into  penitence,  and  reuewed  to  holiness, 
till  you  have  some  good  evidences  of  your  sincere  love  to 
God,  and  unfeigned  faith  in  his  son  Jesus.  Never  be  sat- 
isfied till  you  are  come  to  a  well-grounded  hope  through 
grace,  that  God  is  your  friend,  your  reconciled  Father;  that 
when  days  and  months  are  no  more,  you  may  enter  into 
the  region  of  everlasting  light  and  peace. 

But  I  proceed  to  the  last  general  remark.  '  Learn  the 
unspeakable  happiness  of  those  who  have  improved  time 
well,  and  who  wait  for  the  end  of  time  with  Christian  hope.' 
They  are  not  afraid,  or  at  least  they  need  not  be  afraid  of 
the  sentence,  nor  the  oath  of  this  mighty  angel,  when  he 
lifts  up  his  hand  to  heaven,  and  swears  with  a  loud  voice, 
'  There  shall  be  time  no  more.' 

0  blessed  creatures,  who  have  so  happily  improved  the 
time  of  life  and  day  of  grace,  as  to  obtain  the  restoration 
of  the  image  of  God,  in  some  degree,  on  their  souls,  and 
to  recover  the  favour  of  God  through  the  gospel  of  Christ, 
for  which  end  time  was  bestowed  upon  them !  They  have 
reviewed  their  follies  with  shame-in  the  land  of  hope;  they 


THE  END  01s  TIME.  31 

have  mourned  and  repented  of  sin,  ere  the  season  of  repen- 
tance was  past,  and  are  become  new  creatures,  and  their 
lips  and  their  lives  declare  the  divine  change.  They  have 
made  preparation  for  death,  for  which  purpose  life  and  time 
were  given.  Happy  souls  indeed,  who  have  so  valued  time 
as  not  to  let  it  run  off  in  trifles,  but  have  obtained  treas- 
ures more  valuable  than  that  time  which  is  gone,  even  the 
riches  of  the  covenant  of  grace,  and  the  hopes  of  an  eternal 
inheritance  in  glory. 

Happy  such  souls  indeed  when  time  is  no  more  with 
them  1  Their  happiness  begins  when  the  duration  of  their 
mortal  life  is  finished.  Let  us  survey  this  their  happiness 
in  a  few  particulars. 

The  time  of  their '  darkness  and  difficulties'  is  no  longer: 
the  time  of  painful  ignorance  and  error  is  come  to  an  end. 
You  shall  wander  no  more  in  mistake  and  folly  :  you  shall 
behold  all  things  in  the  light  of  God,  and  see  him  face  to 
face,  who  is  the  original  beauty  and  the  eternal  truth.  You 
shall  see  him  without  vails  and  shadows,  without  the  re- 
flecting glass  of  his  word  and  ordinances,  which  at  best 
give  us  but  a  faint  glimpse  of  him,  either  in  his  nature  or 
wisdom,  his  power  or  goodness.  You  shall  see  him  in 
himself  and  in  his  son  Jesus,  the  brightest  and  fairest  im- 
age of  the  Father,  and  '  shall  know  him  as  you  are  known,' 
1  Cor.  xiii.  10,  12. 

There  is  no  more  time  for  'temptation  and  danger:' 
when  once  you  are  got  beyond  the  limits  of  this  visible 
world,  and  all  the  enticing  objects  of  flesh  and  sense,  there 
shall  be  no  more  hazard  of  your  salvation,  no  more  doubt- 
ing and  distressing  fears  about  your  interest  in  your  Father's 
love,  or  in  the  salvation  of  his  beloved  Son. 

There  is  no  more  place  nor  time  for  'sin  to  inhabit  in 
ydu:'  the  lease  of  its  habitation  in  your  mortal  body  must 
end,  when  the  body  itself  falls  into  the  dust:  you  shall  feel 
no  more  of  its  powerful  and  defiling  operations  either  in 
heart  or  life  for  ever. 

The  time  of  *  conflict  with  your  spiritual  adversaries  is 
no  longer.'  There  is  no  more  warfare  betwixt  the  flesh 
and  spirit,  no  more  combat  with  the  world  and  the  devil, 
who,  by  a  thousand  ways  haveattempted  todeceive  you.  and 
to  bear  you  off  from  your  heavenly  hope.  Your  warfare  is 
accomplished,  your  victory  is  complete,  you  are  made  over- 
comers  through  him  that  has  loved  you..  Death  is  the  last 


32  THE  END  OP  TIME. 

enemy  to  be  overcome;  the  sting  of  it  is  already  taken 
away,  and  you  have  now  finished  the  conquest,  and  are 
assured  of  the  crown,  1  Cor.  xv.  56,  57. 

The  time  of  your  '  distance  and  absence  from  God  is  no 
more:  the  time  of  coldness  and  indifference,  and  the  fear- 
ful danger  of  backslidings,  is  no  more.  You  shall  be  made 
as  '  pillars  in  the  temple  of  your  God,  and  shall  go  no  more 
out.'  He  shall  love  you  like  a  God,  and  kindle  the  flames 
of  your  love  to  so  intense  a  degree,  as  is  only  known  to  an- 
gels, and  to  the  spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect. 

There  is  no  more  time  for  you  to  be  vexed  with  the  'so- 
ciety of  sinful  creatures.'  Your  spirit  within  you  shall  be 
no  more  ruffled  and  disquieted  with  the  teazing  conversa- 
tion of  the  wicked,  nor  shall  you  be  interrupted  in  your 
holy  and  heavenly  exercises  by  any  of  the  enemies  of  God 
and  his  grace. 

The  time  of  your  '  painful  labours  and  sufferings  is  no 
more.'  Rev.  xiv.  13,  "Blessed  are  the  dead  that  die  in 
the  Lord,  for  they  rest  from  all  their  labours"  that  carry  toil 
or  fatigue  with  them.  '  There  shall  be  no  more'  complaints 
nor  groans, '  no  sorrow  or  crying;'  the  springs  of  grief  are  for 
ever  dried  up,  '  neither  shall  there  be  any  more  pain'  in  the 
flesh  or  the  spirit.  "  God  shall  wipe  away  all  tears  from 
your  eyes,  and  death  shall  be  no  more."  Rev.  xxi.  4. 

"  It  is  finished,"  said  our  blessed  Lord  on  the  cross:  '  It 
is  finished,'  may  every  one  of  his  followers  say  at  the  hour 
of  death,  and  at  the  end  of  time.  My  sins  and  follies,  my 
distresses  and  my  sufferings,  are  finished  for  ever,  and  the 
mighty  angel  swears  to  it,  that  the  time  of  those  evils  is 
no  longer:  they  are  vanished,  and  shall  never  return.  0 
happy  souls,  who  have  been  so  wise  to  count  the  short 
and  uncertain  number  of  your  days  on  earth,  as  to  make 
an  early  provision  for  a  removal  to  heaven.  Blest  are  you 
above  all  the  powers  of  present  thought  and  language. 
Days,  and  months,  and  years,  and  all  these  short  and  pain- 
ful periods  of  time,  shall  be  swallowed  up  in  a  long  and 
blissful  eternity;  the  stream  of  time  which  has  run  between 
the  banks  of  this  mortal  life,  and  borne  you  along  amidst 
many  dangerous  rocks  of  temptation,  fear  and  sorrow,  shall 
launch  you  out  into  the  ocean  of  pleasures  which  have  no 
period.  Those  felicities  must  be  everlasting,  for  duration 
has  no  limit  there,  Time,  with  all  its  measures,  shall  be 
no  more.  Amen. 


DISCOURSE   II. 


THE  WATCHFUL  CHRISTIAN  DYING  IN  PEACE. 

OCCASIONED  BY  THE  DECEASE  OF  MISS  SARAH  ABNEY,  DAUGHTER  OF  THE 
'  LATE  SIR  THOMAS  ABNEY,  KNT.  &C.      PREACHED  APRIL  2,  1732. 

• . 

Dedicated  to  the  Lady  ABNEY,  mother  of  the  deceased,  and  to  Miss  MARY  and  Miss 
ELIZABETH  ABNEY,  her  two  surviving  sisters. 

MADAM, 

IF  sorrows  could  be  diminished  in  proportion  to  the  multitude  of  those 
who  share  in  them,  the  spring  of  your  tears  would  have  been  drawn  almost 
dry,  and  the  tide  of  grief  have  sunk  low,  by  being  divided  into  a  thousand 
streams.  But  though  this  cannot  afford  perfect  relief  to  your  Ladyship,  yet  it 
must  be  some  consolation  to  have  been  blessed  with  a  daughter,  whose  removal 
from  our  world  could  give  occasion  for  so  general  a  mourning. 

I  confess,  Madam,  the  wound  which  was  made  by  such  a  smarting  stroke 
is  not  to  be  healed  in  a  day  or  two ;  reason  permits  some  risings  of  the  softer 
and  kinder  passions  in  such  a  season  ;  it  shews  at  least  that  our  hearts  are  not 
marble,  and  reveals  the  tender  ingredients  that  are  moulded  up  in  our  frame ; 
nor  does  religion  permit  us  to  be  insensible  when  a  God  afflicts,  though  he 
doth  it  with  the  hand  of  a  father  and  a  friend.  Nature  and  love  are  full  of 
these  sensibilities,  and  incline  you  to  miss  her  presence  in  every  place  where 
she  was  wont  to  attend  you,  and  where  you  rejoiced  in  her  as  one  of  your 
dearest  blessings.  She  is  taken  away  indeed  from  mortal  sight,  and  to  follow 
her  remains  to  the  grave,  and  to  dwell  there,  gives  but  a  dark  and  melancholy 
view,  till  the  great  rising-day.  Faith  may  ken  the  distant  prospect,  and  exult 
in  the  sight  of  that  glorious  futurity  ;  yet  I  think  there  is  also  a  nearer  relief, 
Madam,  to  your  sorrows.  By  the  virtues  which  shone  in  her  life,  you  may 
trace  the  ascent  of  her  spirit  to  the  world  of  immortality  and  joy.  Could 
your  Ladyship  keep  the  eye  of  your  soul  directed  thither,  you  would  find  it 
an  effectual  balm  for  a  heart  that  bleeds  at  the  painful  remembrance  of  her 
death.  What  could  your  Ladyship  have  asked  as  a  higher  favour  of  heaven, 
than  to  have  born  and  trained  up  a  child  for  that  glorious  inheritance,  and  to 
have  her  secured  of  the  possession  beyond  all  possible  fear  or  danger  of  los- 
ing it. 

This,  Madam,  is  your  own  divinest  hope  for  yourself,  and  you  are  hasten- 
ing on-  toward  that  blessed  society  as-  fast  as  days  and  hours  give  leave. 
When  your  thoughts  descend  to  this  lower  world  again,  there  are  two  living 
comforts  near  you  of  the  same  kind  with  what  you  have  lost.  May  your 
Ladyship  rejoice  in  them  yet  many  years,  and  tfyey  in  you  !  And  when  Je- 
sus, who  hath  the  keys  of  death  and  the  invisible  state,  shall  appoint  the  hour 
for  your  ascent  to  heaven,  may  you  leave  them  behind  to  bless  the  world 
with  fair  examples  of  virtue  and  piety  among  men,  and  a  long  train  of  servi- 
ces for  the  interest  of  their  Redeemer. 

5  33 


34  DEDICATION. 

If  I  were  to  say  any  thing,  young  Ladies,  to  you  in  particular,  it  saould 
be  in  the  language  of  our  Saviour,  and  his  beloved  apostle ;  "  Hold  fast  what 
you  have  till  the  Lord  comes,  that  none  may  deprive  you  of  your  crown. 
Take  heed  to  yourselves,  that  you  lose  not  the  things  which  you  have 
wrought,  but  that  ye  receive  a  full  reward."  Go  on  and  persevere  as  you 
have  begun,  in  the  path  of  true  religion  and  happiness  :  and  in  this  age  of 
infidelity  and  degenerate  life,  be  ye  daily  more  established  in  the  Christian 
faith  and  practice,  in  opposition  to  the  smiles  and  frowns,  and  every  snare 
of  a  vain  delusive  world.  Let  this  one  thought  set  a  double  guard  upon  you, 
that  while  your  elder  sister  was  with  you,  it  was  something  easier  to  resist 
every  temptation,  when  she  had  pronounced  the  first  refusal :  Her  steadiness 
was  a  guard  which  you  have  now  lost,  but  you  have  an  Almighty  God  in 
covenant  on  your  side,  and  the  "  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  is  sufficient  for 
you." 

To  his  care,  My  Lady,  I  commend  yourself,  and  your  whole  family,  with 
affectionate  petitions  ;  and  am, 

MAD  AH, 

Tour  Ladyship's  most  obliged 

and  faithful  Servant, 

I.  WATTS. 

London,  April  28, 1732. 


A  FUNERAL  SERMON. 


IT  is  an  awful  providence  which  hath  lately  removed 
from  among  us  a  young  person  well  known  to  most  of  you, 
whose  agreeable  temper  and  conduct  had  gained  the  es- 
teem of  all  her  acquaintance,  whose  constitution  of  body, 
together  with  the  furniture  of  her  mind,  and  circumstan- 
ces in  the  world,  concurred  to  promise  many  future  years 
of  life  and  usefulness.  But  all  that  is  born  of  the  race  of 
man  is  frail  and  mortal,  and  all  that  is  done  by  the  hand  of 
God  is  wise  and  holy.  We  mourn,  and  we  submit  in  si- 
lence. Yet  the  providence  hath  a  voice  in  it,  and  the 
friends  of  the  deceased  are  very  solicitous  that  such  an  unex- 
pected and  instructive  appearance  of  death  might  be  religi- 
ously improved  to  the  benefit  of  the  living.  For  this  end 
I  am  desired  to  entertain  you  at  present  with  some  medi- 
tations on  those  words  of  our  Saviour,  which  you  read  in 

LUKE  xii.  37. 
Blessed  are  those  servants,  whom  the  Lord,when  he  com- 

eth,  shall  find  watching. 

Various  and  well  chosen  are  those  parables  whereby 
our  Saviour  gave  warning  to  his  disciples,  that  when  he 
was  departed  from  this  world  they  should  ever  be  upon 
their  guard,  and  always  in  a  readiness  to  receive  him  at 
his  return  :  because  he  would  come  on  a  sudden,  and  "  in 
such  an  hour  as  they  thought  not,"  to  demand  an  account 
of  their  behaviour,  and  to  distribute  his  recompences  accor- 
ding to  their  works.  There  are  two  of  these  parables  in 
this  chapter.  But  to  enter  into  a  detail  of  all  the  particu- 
lar metaphors  which  relate  to  this  one,  whence  I  have  bor- 
rowed my  text,  would  be  too  tedious  here,  and  would  spend 
too  much  of  the  present  hour.  Without  any  longer  pre- 
face therefore,  I  shall  apply  myself  to  improve  the-  words 
to  our  spiritual  profit  in  the  following  method. 

35 


36  THE  WATCHFUL  CHRISTIAN 

I.  I  shall  enquire  what  is  meant  by  the  '  coming  of  Christ* 
in  the  text,  and  how  it  may  be  properly  applied  to  our 
present  purpose,  or  the  'hour  of  death.' 

II.  I  shall  consider  what  is  implied  in  the  watchfulness 
which  our  Saviour  recommends. 

III.  I  propose  some  considerations  which  will  discover  the 
*  blessedness  of  the  watchful  soul'  in  a  dying  hour. 

IV.  I  shall  add  some  practical  remarks. 

First,  Let  us  enquire  what  is  meant  by  the  'coming  of 
Christ,'in  my  text. 

The  'coming  of  Christ,'  in  some  of  these  parables,  may 
have  reference  to  his  speedy  appearance  in  the  course  of 
his  providence  in  that  very  age,  to  ju(?ge  and  punish  the 
Jewish  nation,  to  destroy  their  city,  and  put  an  end  to 
their  church  and  state,  for  their  many  heinous  iniquities, 
and  the  most  provoking  crime  of  rejecting  and  crucifying 
the  Son  of  God.  But  these  words,  in  their  supreme  and 
most  important  sense,  always  point  to  the  'glorious  appear- 
ance of  Christ  at  the  last  day/  when  he  shall  come  to  shut 
up  all  the  scenes  of-  this  frail  life,  to  put  an  end  to  the  pre- 
sent world,  to  finish  all  the  works  of  this  mortal  state,  and 
to  decide  and  determine  the  eternal  states  of  all  mankind 
by  the  general  judgment. 

Yet '  Christ  comes'  to  each  of  us  in  '  the  hour  of  death' 
also,  for  'he  hath  the  keys  of  death  and  of  hell,'  or  of  the  in- 
visible world,  Rev.  i.  18.  It  is  he  who  appoints  the  very 
moment  when  the  soul  shall  be  dismissed  from  this  flesh  ; 
he  opens  the  door?  of  the  grave  for  the  dying  body  ;  and 
he  is  Lord  of  the  world  of  spirits,  and  lets  in  new  inhab- 
itants every  minute  into  those  unseen  regions  of  immortal 
sorrow,  or  immortal  peace. 

And  as  Christ  may  be  said  to  'come  to  us'  by  the 
message  or  '  summons  of  death,'  so  the  many  solemn  wri- 
tings and  commands  of  ivatchfulness,  which  attend  these 
parables  of  Christ,  have  been  usually,  and  with  good  rea- 
son, applied  to  the  '  hour  of  death'  also,  for  then  the  Lord 
comes  '  to  shut  up  the  scene  of  each  of  our  lives,  our 
'works  are  then  finished,'  our  ''last  day  is  cojne,'  and  the 
f  world  is  then  at  an  end'  with  us. 

Let  it  be  observed  also,  that  there  is  a  further  parallel 
between  the  day  of  the  '  general  judgment,'  and  that  of 


DYING  IN  PEACE.  37 

'  our  own  death.'  The  one  will  as  certainly  come  as  the 
other  ;  but  the  time  when  Christ  will  come  in  either  of 
these  senses,  is  unknown  to  us  and  uncertain  :  and  it  is  this, 
which  renders  the  duty  of  perpetual  watchfulness  so  neces- 
sary to  all  men.  The  parable  assures  us,  that  our  Lord 
will  certainly  come  ;  but  whether  at  the  'second  or  third 
watch/  whether  'at  midnight,  or  at  cock-crowing,  or  near 
the  morning,'  this  is  all  uncertainty ;  yet  whensoever  he 
comes,  he  expects  we  should  '  have  our  loins  girded,'  like 
servants  fit  for  business, 'and  our  lamps  burning,'  to  attend 
him  at  the  door,  and  that  we  '  be  ready  to  receive  him  as 
soon  as  he  knocks.'  * 


*  It  may  not  be  unacceptable  to  the -reader,  to  find  here  an  account  of  the 
manner  in  which  the  marriage  processipn  was  conducted  anciently  among 
the  Jews,  as  it  will  help  to  illustrate  and  explain  the  allusions,  which  our 
Lord  employs  in  the  context,  and  in  other  passages.  "  After  the  connubial 
union  was  solemnly  ratified  and  attested,  and  the  religious  part  of  it  con- 
cluded, it  was  customary  for  the  bridegroom,  in  the  evening,  to  conduct  his 
upouse  from  her  friends  to  his  own  house,  with  all  the  pomp,  brilliancy  and 
joy,  that  could  be  crowded  into  the  procession.  It  was  usual  for  the  bride- 
groom, to  invite  his  young  female  friends  and  relations  to  grace  this  pro- 
cession, and  to  add  numbers  and  lustre  to  his  retinue  :  these,  adorned  in 
robes  suitable  to  the  occasion,  "took  lamps,  and  waited  in  a  company  near 
the  house,  till  the  bride  and  bridegroom  with  their  friends  issued  forth,  whom 
they  welcomed  with  the  customary  congratulations,  then  joined  in  the  train, 
and  with  songs  and  acclamations  and  every  demonstration  of  joy,  advanced 
to  the  bridegroom's  house,  where  an  entertainment  was  provided,  according  to 
the  circumstances  of  the  united  pair.  The  nuptial  feast  was  adorned  and  cele- 
brated only  by  a  select  company  of  the  bride  and  bridegroom's  friends ;  no 
strangers  were  admitted ;  by  these  the  evening  was  spent  in  all  the  convivial 
enjoyment,  which  social  happiness,  their  approbation  of  the  [recent]  union, 
and  the  splendor  of  such  a  festivity  could  inspire."  [These  circumstances 
are  finely  alluded  to  in  the  parable'of  the  ten  virgins,  Mat.  xxv.  Five  of 
these  inconsiderately  took  lamps,  but  neglected  the  oil.  As  the  return  of 
the  bridegroom  was  always  at  night,  and  the  precise  time  of  his  approach 
uncertain,  these  virgins,  after  waiting  long,  and  becoming  fatigued  with 
tedious  expectation,  fell  asleep.]  '•  But  lo  !  at  midnight,  they  were  sud- 
denly alarmed  with  a  cry,  "  The  bridegroom  !  the  bridegroom  is  coming  ! 
Hasten  to  meet  and  congratulate  him."  Roused  with  this  unexpected  pro- 
clamation they  all  rose  up  and  trimmed  their  lamps.  The  thoughtless 
then  began  to  solicit  the  others  to  impart  to  them  some  of  their  oil,  telling 
them  that  their  lamps  were  entirely  extinguished.  To  these  entreaties  the 
prudent  [virgins]  answered,  that  they  had  only  provided  a  sufficient  quanti- 
ty for  their  own  use,  and  therefore  advised  them  to  go  and  purchase  oil  of 
those  who  sold  it.  They  departed  accordingly ;  but  during  their  absence 
the  bridegroom  came,  and  the  prudent  virgins,  being  prepared  for  his  re- 
ception, went  along  with  him  to  the  entertainment.  The  doors  were  then 
immediately  shut.  After  some  time  the  others  came  to  the  door,  and  sup- 
plicated earnestly  for  admission.  But  the  bridegroom  repulsed  them,  telHng 

D 


38  THE  WATCHFUL  CHRISTIAN 

Were  the  appointed  hour  of  judgment,  or  of  death,  made 
known  to  us  for  months  or  years  before-hand,  we  should  be 
ready  to  think  constant  wattfi fulness,  a  very  needless 
thing.  Mankind  would  persuade  themselves  to  indulge 
their  foolish  and  sinful  slumbers,  and  only  take  care  to  rub 
their  eyes  a  little,  and  bestir  themselves  an  hour  or  two  be- 
fore this  awful  event.  But  it  is  the  suddenness  and  uncer- 
tainty of  the  coming  of  Christ  to  all  mankind,  for  either  of 
these  purposes,  that  extends  the  charge  of  watchfulness  to 
all  men  as  well  as  to  the  Apostles,  Mark.  xiii.  37,  and  that 
calls  upon  us  aloud  to  keep  our  souls  ever  awake, (  lest  (as 
our  Lord  there  expresses  it,)  coming  suddenly,  he  should 
find  us  sleeping.'  And  remember  this,  that  if  we  are  unpre- 
pared to  meet  the  Lord  at  death,  we  can  never  be  ready 
when  he  comes  to  judgment.;  peace  and  blessedness  attend 
the  watchful  Christian,  whensoever  his  Lord  cometh. 
"  Blessed  is  that  servant,  whom,  when  his  Lord  comes,  he 
shall  find  watching."  This  leads  me  to  the  second  general 
head. 

Secondly,  What  is  implied  in  watchfulness  ? 

In  general,  it  is  opposed  to  sleeping,  as  I  have  already 
hinted,  in  Mark  xiii.  35,  36.  And  in  the  language  of  Scrip- 
ture, as  well  as  in  common  speech,  sleep  and  slumbering, 
denote  an  unpreparedness  to  receive  whatever  comes,  for 
this  is  the  case  with  those  who  are  asleep.  On  the  other 
hand,  watchfulness  is  a  preparation  and  readiness  for  every 
event,  and  so  it  is  expressed  in  some  of  these  parables  ; 
ver.  40,  "  Be  ye  therefore  ready."  But  to  enter  into  a  few 
particulars. 

1.  There  is  a  "sleep  of  death,"  Psal.  xiii.  3.  Spiritual 
death  as  well  as  natural,  is  sometimes  called  a  sleep.  Such 
is  the  case  of  a  soul  "  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins,"  Eph. 

them  he  did  not  know  them,  and  would  not  admit  any  strangers."  Home's 
Introduction,  vol.  iii.  p.  409.  As  no  admittance  was  granted  after  the 
shutting  of  the  door,  it  is  plain,  that  careless  friends,  who,  through  un- 
watchfulness,  might  suffer  surprise,  and  not  be  prepared  to  join  the  pro- 
cession, in  time  to  enter  in  with  the  bridegroom,  would  also  be  excluded. 
If  the  servants,  whose  business  it  was  to  prepare  every  thing  for  the  recep- 
tion of  their  master  and  his  friends,  should  have  been  found  asleep,  negligent, 
and  unprepared,  when  his  knock  at  the  door  admonished  them  of  his  arrival, 
it  is  evident,  that  they  would  have  been  liable  to  punishment.  If  we,  as 
unfaithful  servants,  be  found,  when  our  Lord,  in  the  night  of  death,  shall 
knock  at  the  door  of  our  earthly  tabernacle,  unprepared  to  meet  him,  what 
imagination  can  anticipate  the  anguish  of  our  doom  ? — ED. 


DYING  IN  PEACE.  39 

v.  14.  compared  with  ii.  1  :  Awake  thou  that  sleepest  and 
arise  from  the  dead,  and  Christ  shall  give  thee  light." 

Watchfulness  therefore  implies  life,  a  principle  of  spir- 
itual life  in  the  soul.  Surely  those  who  are  dead  in  sins 
are  not  prepared  to  receive  their  Lord.  He  is  a  perfect 
stranger  to  them,  they  know  him  not,  they  love  him  not, 
'  they  obey  him  not ;  and  a  terrible  stranger  he  will  be,  if 
he  comes  upon  them  before  they  are  awake.  But  those 
who  are  awakened  by  divine  grace  into  a  spiritual  life, 
have  seen  something  of  "  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of 
Jesus  Christ ;"  they  are  acquainted  with  their  Lord,  they 
love  him,  and  have  some  degree  of  preparation  to  meet 
their  Saviour  when  he  summons  them  to  leave  this  world. 
This  is  therefore  a  matter  of  highest  consequence,  that  we 
awake  from  a  state  of  sin  and  death,  that  we  be  made 
alive  to  God,  begin  the  Christian  life,  and  set  upon  religion 
in  good  earnest,  according  to  the  rules  of  the  gospel,  before 
Christ  call  us  away.  It  is  only  this  divine  life  begun  in 
us,  that  can  secure  us  from  eternal  death ;  though  even 
Christians  may  be  found  slumbering  in  other  respects,  and 
expose  themselves  to  painful  evils,  if  that  hour  surprise 
them  at  unawares. 

2.  There  is  'a  sleep  of  indolence  and  thoughtlessness.' 
When  a  man  is  insensible  of  his  own  circumstances,  and 
too  careless  of  the  things  which  most  concern  him,  we 
say,  l  the  man  is  asleep.'  Such  a  sleep  seems  to  be  upon 
the  church  of  Israel,  Isa.  xxix.  10,  "  a  spirit  of  deep  sleep," 
when  the  law  which  contained  the  great  things  of  God, 
and  their  salvation,  was  to  them  '  as  a  sealed  book,'  they 
read  it  not,  their  eyes  were  closed,  their  spiritual  senses 
were  bound  up.  Many  a  Christian  who  hath  been  raised 
from  a  death  in  sin,  has  been  seized  with  this  criminal 
slumber,  and  has  had  the  image  of  death  come  again  upon 
him.  He  has  grown  too  careless  and  unconcerned  about 
his  most  important  and  eternal  affairs  ;  and  in  this  temper 
he  hardly  knows  what  his  state  is  toward  God,  nor  keeps 
up  a  lively  rense  or  notice  of  divine  and  eternal  things 
upon  his  spirit. 

Watchfulness  in  opposition  to  this  sleep,  implies  a  ho- 
ly solicitude  and  diligence,  to  know  our  own  spiritual 
state;  a  consciousness  of  what  we  are;  a  keeping  all  the 
spiritual  senses  in  proper  exercise,  and  maintaining  a  live- 
ly perception  of  divine  things.  It  implies  an  acute,  pain- 


40  THE  WATCHFUL  CHRISTIAN 

ful  sense  of  indwelling  sin,  and  the  irregular  propensities 
of  the  heart,  a  delightful  relish  of  heavenly  objects,  fre- 
quent thoughts  of  death  and  eternity,  constant  waiting  for 
those  awful  events,  with  a  quick  apprehension  and  resent- 
ment of  all  things,  that  help  or  hinder  the  spiritual  life. 
This  is  the  character  of  a  wakeful  Christian,  and  such  a 
one  as  is  ready  to  receive  his  returning  Lord. 

3.  There  is- a  'sleep  of   security  and  foolish   peace,' 
when  a  person  is  not  apprehensive  of  imminent  danger, 
and  is  much  unguarded  against  it.     Such  was  the  sleep  of 
Jonah '  in  the  storm,  of  Sampson  on  the  lap  of  Delilah, 
when  the  Philistines  were  upon  him,  and  of  the  disciples, 
when  Judas  and  the  barld  of  soldiers  were  just  ready  to 
seize  their  Master.     This  is  the  case  of  many  a  slumber- 
ing Christian;  he  is  not  "upon  his  guard  against  his  inward 
lusts  and  passions,  nor  against  those  outward  temptations 
and  perils  to  which  he  is  continually  exposed,  while  he 
dwells  in  flesh  and  blood. 

Watchfulness  in  this  respect  is,  when  a  Christian  hath 
his  eyes  open,  and  turns  them  round  on  every  side  to  fore- 
see approaching  evil,  and  prevent  it;  when  he  is- prepared 
for  every  assault  of  every  adversary,  whether  sin  or  the 
world,  whether  death  or  the  devil;  he  hath  his  spiritual 
armour  girt  upon  him,  and  is  ready  for  th,e  combat.  He 
is  every  hour  guarded  against  the  powers  of  the  flesh,  and 
watching  against  its  allurements  and  attractions,  lest  he  be 
defiled  thereby,  and  unftt  to  meet  his  returning' Lord. — 
He  is  daily  loosening  his,  heart  from  all' sensual  attach- 
ments, and  weaning  himself  from  the  world  and  creatures, 
because  he  knows  he  must  quickly  take  his  long  farewell, 
and  part  with  them  all,  at  the  call  and  appointment  of  his 
great  Master.  He  is  Hke  a  sentinel  upon  his  watch-tow- 
er, ever  awake,  because  dangers  stand  thick  around  him. 

4.  There  is  a  <  sleep  of  sloth  and  inactivity,'  Prov.  xix. 
15:  "  Slothfulness  casts  into  a  deep  sleep."  <A  little  more 
sleep,  a  little  more  .slumber,'  saith  the  lazy  Christian,  who 
*  turns  upon   his  bed,  as-  the   door  upon  its   hinges,'  and 
makes  no  progress  or  advance  in  his  way  to  heaven.    We 
are  sleepy  Christians  when  we  do  little  for  God,  or  our 
own  souls,  in  comparison  of  the  vast  work,  and  important 
varieties  of  duty  that  lie  upon  us  :  when  our  zeal  is  cold, 
and  our  efforts  of  service  slight  and  feeble:  when  the  light 
of  grace  shines  so  dim,  and  the  spark  of  holiness  is  so  co- 


DYING  IN  PEACE.  41 

vered  with  ashes,  that  it  is  hard  to  say  whether  it  burn  or 
no.  As  in  natural  things,  so  in  spiritual,  it  is  a  difficult 
matter  sometimes  to  distinguish  between  a  dead  man,  and 
a  lethargic  sleeper. 

Watchfulness  in  opposition  to  this  slumber,  is  a  lively 
and  vigorous  exercise  of  every  grace,  and  a  diligent  at- 
tendance on  every  duty,  both  toward  God  and  man,  a  con- 
stant converse  with  heaven  by  daily  devotion,  an  active 
zeal  for  God  in  the  world,  a  steady  faith  in  the  promises, 
a  joyful  hope  of  heavenly  blessedness,  a  longing  expecta- 
tion of  the  returning  Saviour,  which  makes  the  soul 
stretch  out  the  wings  of  desire  and  joy,  as  though  it  were 
going  forth  to  meet  him.  This  is  the  meaning  of  the 
Apostle  Peter's  expression,  2  Pet.  iii.  12,  "Looking  for, 
and  hastening  to  the  coming  of  the  day  of  God." 

Put  all  these  things  together  now,  and  they  make  up 
the  character  of  a  '  watchful  Christian.'  He  is  awake  from 
the  sleep  of  death,  and  made  spiritually  alive;  he  hath  the 
work  of  vital  religion  begun  in  his  heart. 

He  is  awake  from  the  sleep  of  '  thoughtlessness  and  in- 
dolence ;'  he  is  solicitous  to  know  his  own  state,  and  hath 
good  hope  through  graee  ;  he  lives  in  the  view  of  heaven- 
ly things,  and  keeps  his  eye  open  to  future  and  eternal 
glories. 

He  is  awake  from  the  sleep  of  security,  he  is  upon  his 
guard  against  every  danger,  and  ready  to  receive  every 
alarm. 

He  is  awake  from  the  sleep  of  slothfulness,  and  is  ac- 
tive in  the  pursuit  of  the  glory  of  his  God,  and  his  own 
eternal  interest,  and  still  '  pressing  toward  the  mark  to  ob- 
tain the  prize.'  vThis  is  the  soul  that  is  ready  to  meet  a 
returning  Saviour,  and  to  receive  his  Lord  when  he  comes, 
either  at  the  hour  of  death,  or  to  the  general  judgment. 

Thirdly,  Let  me  propose  some  special  considerations 
which  discover  <  the  blessedness  of  the  watchful  Christian 
at  the  hour  of  death.' 

1.   Consid.  That  moment  dispossesses  us  of  every  en- 
joyment of  flesh  and  blood,  and  divides  us  from  the  com- 
merce of  this  visible  world  ;  but  'the  wakeful  Christian 
is  happy,  for  he  is  ready  to  be  thus  divided  and  dispos- 
sessed.'    Death  breaks  the  band  at  once  between  us,  and 
all  the  sensible  things  round  about  us,  by  dissolving  the 
frame  of  this  body,  which  had  united  us  to  them  ;  and  the 
6  D2 


42  THE  WATCHFUL  CHRISTIAN 

watchful  saint  is  content  to  have  that  bond  broken,  these* 
unions  dissolved.  His  heart  and  soul  are  not  torn  away 
from  the  dear  delights  of  this  mortal  state  with  that  pain, 
anguish  and  horror,  that  attends  the  sinner  when  deatli 
summons  him  off  the  stage,  and  divides  him  from  his 
fleshly  idols.  The  Christian  hath  been  untying  his  heart 
by  degrees,  from  the  dearest  delights  of  sense,  and  disen- 
gaging it  from  all  that  is  not  immortal.  With  holy  plea- 
sure he  can  bid  farewell  to  sun,  moon,  and  stars,  and  to  all 
things  which  their  light  can  shew  him,  for  he  is  going  to 
a  world  where  the  Sun  of  righteousness  ever  shines  in  un- 
clouded glory,  and  discovers  such  sights,  as  are  infinitely 
superior  to  all  that  the  eyes  of  flesh  can  behold  ;•  he  can 
part  with  friends  and  kindred  with  a  composed  spirit,  for 
he  is  going  to  meet  better  friends  and  diviner  kindred,  as 
we  shall  shew  immediately.  He  can  leave  his  dying  flesh 
behind  him,  and  commit  it  to  the  dust,  in  joyful  hope  of 
the  great  rising-day,  and  he  hath  a  better  mansion  at  pre- 
sent provided  for  him  on  high  in  his  Father's  house,  while 
he  lives  far  separate  from  all  earthly  dwellings,  2  Cor.  v. 
1.  "We  know  that  if  this  earthly  house  of  our  tabernacle 
be  dissolved,  we  have  a  building  of  God  not  made  with 
hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens." 

2.  Consid.  The  moment  of  death  finishes  our  state  of 
trial,  and  fixes  us  unchangeably  in  the  state  of  sin  or  holi- 
ness, in  which  we  are  then  found  ;  and  blessed  is  the 
watchful  Christian,  for  he  is  prepared  to  have  his  trial  thus 
ended,  and  his  state  thus  fixed  and  made  unchangeable.' — 
"As  the  tree  falls,  so  it  lies,"  Eccles.  xi.  10,  "  whether  to 
the  north,  or  the  south."'  As  the  soul  parts  from  the  bo- 
dy, so  it  remains,  whether  fitted  for  heaven  or  hell.  It  is 
therefore  a  matter  of  the  last  importance  to  be  prepared 
and  ready  for  such  an  eternal  sentence,  and  unchangeable 
determination.  Were  any  of  us  to  be  surprised  some  mo- 
ment this  day,  and  forced  to  continue  all  our  lives,  in  that 
very  posture  of  body,  in  which  we  are  then  found  ;  should 
.  we  not  be  awake,  and  keep  ourselves  in  the  most  natural 
and  easy  gestures  all  that  day,  lest  we  be  seized  at  once, 
and  fixed  in  some  distorted,  painful,  and  uneasy  situation, 
all  our  months  and  years  to  come  ?  Or  if  we  were  to  be 
bound  down  to  one  single  thought,  or  passion,  all  the  rem- 
nant of  our  life,  in  which  we  were  found  in  any  uncertain 
minute  in  this  hour  ;  should  we  not  watch  with  the  ut- 


IN  PEACE.  43 

most  care,  and  guard  against  every  unpleasing  thought, 
and  every  fretful  and  vexing  passion,  lest  it  should  be  fix- 
ed upon  us  till  we  die  ? 

Now  this  is  the  case  at  death.  The  almighty  voice  of 
God  then  pronounces,  "  he  that  is  unclean  and  unholy 
must  for  erer  be  unholy  and  unclean  ;  but  he  that  is  righ- 
teous let  him  he  righteous  still,  and  he  that  is  holy  shall  be 
for  ever  holy,"  Rev.  xxii.  11.  I  will  not  precisely  deter- 
mine that  this  is  the  sense  of  that  text;  yet  since  the  Apos- 
tle speaks  there  concerning  the  coming  of  Christ,  it  may 
be  very  applicable  to  the  present  case.  Now,  how  dreadful 
soever  this  thought  is  to  a  guilty  sinful  creature,  it  is  no 
terror  to  a  wakeful  Christian.  He  is  ready  to  have  these 
words  pronounced  from  heaven  ;  for  they  will  establish 
him  in  eternal  holiness  and  eternal  peace.  He  hath  en- 
deavoured to  secure  to  himself  an  interest  in  the  love  of 
God,  through  the  faith  and  love  of  Jesus  the  blessed  Me- 
diator, and  at  death  he  is  fixed  for  ever  in  that  love.  He 
hath  loved  God  in  time,  and  in  this  visible  world,  and 
there  is  nothing  in  all  the  unseen  worlds,  nothing  through 
all  the  ages  of  eternity,  that  shall  ever  separate  him  from 
the  love  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus.  The  moment  of  death 
hath  fixed  him  for  ever  a  holy  and  beloved  soul,  beyond 
the  power  of  creatures  to  change  his  temper,  or  his  state. 
This  is  the  blessedness  of  the  watchful  Christian. 

3.  Consid.  Death  sets  us  in  a  more  immediate  and  sen- 
sible manner  in  the  presence  of  God,  a  glorious  and  holy 
God,  God  the  Judge  of  all ;  and  "blessed  is  the  watchful 
Christian,  for  he  is  willing  to  stand  before  this  God,  to  be 
brought  into  his  presence.  This  is  what  he  hath  longed 
and  prayed  for,  to  be  for  ever  with  God.  It  is  the  bles- 
sedness that  he  hath  sought  with  incessant  labours  and  tears, 
with  holy  diligence,  and  daily  devotion  ;  and  blessed  is 
the  "pure  in  heart,"  who  hath  watched  against  the  pol- 
lutions of  the  world,  "  for  he  shall  see  God,"  Math.  v.  8. 

It  is  certain,  that'when  the  soul  departs  from  the  body, 
"it  returns  to  God  who  gave  it,"  Eccles.  xii.  7.  And 
probably  to  God  as  a  Judge  too,  Heb.  ix.  27:  "After 
death  judgment. "  There  is  some  sort  of  determination 
of  the  state  of  each  single  person  at  death,  before  the  great 
and  general  judgment-day  ;  because  that  day  is  appointed 
rather  for  the  public  vindication  of  the  equity  of  God  in 
his  distribution  of  rewards  and  punishments,  and  is  par- 


44  THE  WATCHFTTT,  CHRISTIAN 

ticularly  put  into  the  hands  of  our  Lord  Jesus.  Now, 
since  the  separate  soul  returns  to  God  who  gave  it,  it  is  of 
vast  importance  that  we  be  then  prepared  to  come  before 
him. 

Some  of  us  here  would  be  mightily  afraid  of  appearing 
before  a  prince,  or  a  great  and  honorable  person,  in  an 
undress  ;  but  for  our  souls  in  a  naked  state,  or  in  a  garment 
of  sinful  pollution,  to  be  surprised  by  the  great  and  holy 
God,  to  be  set  on  a  sudden  in  his  presence,  what  terror  is 
contained  in  this  thought!  Now  the  'watchful  Christian 
hath  this  blessedness,'  that  he  is  washed  from  his  defilements 
in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  "  he  is  clothed  with  the  robe  of 
righteousness,  and  the  garments  of  salvation,"  Isa.  Ixi.  10. 
He  is  prepared  to  appear  before  a  God  of  infinite  holiness 
without  terror,  for  he  is  made  like  him,  he  bears  his  image, 
he  appears  as  one  of  his  children,  and  he  is  not  afraid  to 
see  his  Father. 

However  some  commentators  may  confine  and  impover- 
ish the  sense  of  David  in  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  Psalm, 
yet  I  am  persuaded  the  Spirit  of  God  in  him  designed  to 
express  his  faith  and  joy,  either  at  the  hour  of  death,  or 
in  the  morning  of  the  resurrection  ;  "I  shall  behold  thy 
face  in  righteousness,  I  shall  be  satisfied  when  I  awake 
with  thy  likeness."  When  the  Psalmist  had  described 
what  were  the  satisfactions  of  the  men  of  this  world  in 
death,  ver.  14,  viz.  that  they  had  filled  their  houses  with 
children,  and  leave  their  substance  or  riches  to  them,  he 
then  declares,  what  was  his  support  and  hope  in  his  dying 
hour,  As  for  me,  saith  he,  I  have  other  views  :  I  am  not 
afraid,  0  my  God,  to  appear  before  thee  in  the  other  world, 
for  I  shall  see  thy  face,  not  as  a  criminal,  but  as  a  person 
approved  and  accepted,  and  righteous  in  thy  sight ;  I  shall 
awake  from  this  world  of  dreams  and  shadows  into  thy 
complete  image  and  perfect  holiness ;  or,  I  shall  awake 
from  the  dust  of  death,  and  shall  be  fully  satisfied  ;  and 
rejoice  to  find  myself  made  so  like  my  God,  and  to  dwell 
for  ever  in  his  presence. 

4.  Consid.  It  is  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  that  lets  the  soul 
out  of  the  body,  for  he  '  hath  the  keys  of  death,  and  of  the 
unseen  world,'  and  'blessed  is  the  watchful  Christian,  who 
waits  for  the  coming  of  his  Lord,  for  he  can  meet  him  gladly, 
when  fulfilling  this  part  of  his  glorious  office. '  He  shall 
be  introduced  by  him  into  the  presence  of  God  his  Father, 


DYING  IN  PEACE.  45 

and  shall  receive  most  condescending  instances  of  mercy 
from  Christ  himself.  See  the  text,  Luke  xii.  36,  37,  "Be 
ye  yourselves  like  men  that  wait  for  the  Lord,  that  when 
he  cometh  and  knocketh,  ye  may  open  to  him  immediately. 
Blessed  are  those  servants,  whom  the  Lord,  when  he 
cometh,  shall  find  watching  :  verily,  \  say  to  you,  he  shall 
gird  himself,  and  make  them  sit  down  to  meat,  and  come 
forth  and  serve  them."  He  shall  condescend,  as  it  were, 
even  below  the  office  of  a  steward,  he  shall  bring  out  the 
heavenly  provisions  of  his  Father's  house,  and  make  them 
sit  down  in  his  kingdom,  and  give  them  divine  refresh- 
ments after  their  labours;  he  shall  '.feed  them'  as  a  shep- 
herd, shall  'lead  them  to  living  fountains  of  waters,' 
and  afford  them  his  presence  for  ever. 

The  watchful  Christian  is  blessed  indeed^  when  he  shall 
be  { absent  from  the  body,  and  be  at  once  present  with  the 
Lord,'  2  Cor,  v.  8.  The  Lord  Jesus  whom  he  hath  seen 
by  faith  in  his  gospel,  whose  voice  he  hath  heard  in  his 
word,  and  obeyed  it  ;  Jesus,  whom  he  hath  touched  and 
tasted  in  the  appointed  emblems  of  hie  supper  on  earth,  in 
whom  he  hath  believed  thiuugn  the  word  of  grace,  and 
whom  he  hath  loved  before  he  saw  him,  shall  now  receive 
him  into  his  presence,  and  the  disciple  shall  rejoice  fop 
ever  to  meet  his  Lord,  with  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of 
glory. 

5.  Consid.  At  the  hour  of  death  we  are  sent  at  once 
into  an  invisible  woild  ;  we  shall  find  ourselves  in  the 
midst  of  holy  or  of  unclean  spirits  ;  borne  away  at  once 
into  an  unknown  region,  and  into  the  midst  of  unknown 
inhabitants,  the  nations  of  the  saved,  or  the  Crowds  of 
damned  souls  ;  '  and  blessed  is  the  watchful  Christian,  for 
he  is  ready  to  enter  into  the  unseen  regions  :'  He  knows  he 
shall  not  be  placed  among  those  whose  company  and  whose 
character  he  never  loved  here  on  earth  ;  '  his  soul  shall-not 
be  gathered -with  sinners,'  nor  his  dwelling  "be  '  with  the 
workers  of  iniquity,'  but  with  the  'saints,  the  excellent  in 
the  earth,  in  whom  was  all  his  delight.'  Every  one  when 
dismissed  from  the  prison  of  this  body,  must  go  as  the 
Apostles  did,  when  released  from  the  prison  at  Jerusalem, 
'  must  go  to  their  own  company,'  Acts  iv.  23.  Judas  the 
traitor  'went  to  his  own  place,'  Acts  i.  25.  And  the 
watchful  Christian  will  be  disposed  among  '  spirits  of  the 
just  made  perfect ;'  he  will  find  himself  in  that  blessed  so- 


46  THE  WATCHFUL  CHRISTIAN 

ciety,  at  his  dismission  from  flesh  and  blood.  Read  and 
see  what  a  glorious  society  it  is,  Heb.  xii.  22,  23,  "  To 
the  innumerable  company  of  angels,  the  general  assembly 
and  church  of  the  first-born,  who  are  written  in  heaven,  to 
God  the  Judge  of  all,  and  to  the  spirits  of  just  men  made 
perfect,  and  Jesus  the  Mediator  of  the  new  covenant. " 
The  Apostle  says,  <  we  are  come  to  them'  already,  that  is, 
by  the  covenant  of  grace,  as  administered  under  the  gospel ; 
we  are  brought  into  a  blessed  union  with  them,  in  spirit, 
and  in  temper,  even  in  this  life  ;  we  are  members  of  the 
same  body,  we  are  united  to  the  same  head,  and  made  parts 
of  the  same  household,  though  we  are  not  yet  brought 
home.  But  at  death  we  are  actually  present  with  them, 
and  dwell  and  converse  among  them  with  holy  familiarity, 
as  citizens  of  the  same  heavenly  Jerusalem,  as  part  o_f  the 
same  sacred  family,  and  at  home,  as  children  of  the  same 
God,  and  in  their  Father's  house.  The  watchful  Christian 
is  at  Once  carried  into  the  midst  of  the  blessed  world  by 
ministering  angels,  the  world  where  Abraham,  Isaac,  and 
Jacob  dwell,  and  made  a  speedy  partaker  of  their  blessed- 
noes.,  Luke  xvi.  22. 

6,  Cnnsid.  Death  brings  with  it  a  most  amazing  and 
inconceivable  change  of  all  our  present  circumstances  aud 
thoughts,  our  actions  and  pursuits,  our  sensations  and  en- 
joyments ;  I  mean  all  those  that  relate  to  this  life  only, 
such  as  eating,  drinking,  buying,  selling,  &c.  It  dislodges 
from  these  bodies,  and  thereby  finishes  all  those  affections, 
concerns  and  troubles,  which  belong  to  the  body,  and  sends 
us  into  another  sort  of  world,  whose  affairs  and  concerns 
are  such  only,  as  belong  to  spirits,  whether  sinful  or  holy. 
A  most  delightful,  or  a  most  dreadful  change  1  a  world  of 
unknown  sorrows  or  unknown  happiness  !  Luke,  xxiii.  43, 
"  This  day  shalt  thou  be  with  me  in  paradise. "  Luke  xvi. 
22,.  "The  rich  man  died,  and  in  hell  he  lift  up  his  eyes." 
And  indeed  the  change  is  so  vast,  that,  comparatively 
speaking,  we  know  not  what  sorrow,  or  happiness  is,,  till 
this  day  comes.  Now,  •  it  is  a  very  foolish  and  dangerous 
thing  at  best,  to  pass  into  such  an  extreme  change  of  states, 
infinitely  worse,  or  infinitely  better,  while  we  are  asleep 
and  at  all  uncertainties.  What  if  it  should  be  the  miserable 
state,  and  we  should-  awake  in  hell?  But  'the  watchful 
Christian  is  blessed,  for  he  isready  for  this  amazing  change.' 
He  hath  long  lived  upon  it  by  faith  and  hope,  though  he 


DYING  IN  PEACE.  47 

knows  not  so  well  what  .the  particular  enjoyments  of  heaven 
are ;  and  he  is  well  satisfied  that  he  is  prepared  for  that 
hrfppy  world  by  God  himself.  2  Cor.  v.  5,  "He  that 
hath  wrought  us  for  the  self-same  thing  is  God." "  He  is 
well  pleased  to  have  his  faith. 'changed  into  sight,  and  his 
hope  into  fruition.  He  hath  been  long  pained  and  burdened 
in  this  sinful  world,  with  the  vain  trifles,  the  poor  low 
cares  and  amusements  of  it ;  the  sins  and  sorrows  and  temp- 
tations that  surrounded  him  in  it,  give  him  continual  dis- 
quietudes, and  he  hath  been  training  up  in  the  school  of 
Christ,  by  devotion  and  good  works  for  those  higher  services 
of  heaven.  Since  he  can  trust  the  promises  of  the  gospel, 
and  has  had  some  small  foretaste  of  these  pleasures,  lie 
knows  that  the  actions  and  employments,  the  business  and 
joys  of  the  upper  world,  are  incomparably  superior  to  any 
thing  here  on  earth,  and  free  from  aW  the  uneasy  and  defiling 
circumstances  of  this  life.  He  is  awake  to  receive  this 
change  :  he  rejoices  in  his  removal  from  world  to  world  : 
his  vital  and  active  powers  are  ready  for  the  business  of 
paradise,  and  he  opens  his  heart  to  take  in  the  joy. 

7.  Consid.  Death  makes  its  approaches  oftentimes,  and 
seizes  us  in  such  a  manner  as  to  give  no  room  for  prayers 
or  repentance  :  then  '  the  blessedness  of  the  watchful  soul 
appears,  that  if  he  is  carried  out  of  the  world  and  time  in 
such  a  surprising  way,  he  is  safe  for  eternity.' 

Sometimes  the  messenger  of  death  stops  all  our  thoughts 
and  actions  at  once  by  a  lethargic  stroke,  or  confounds 
them  all,  by  the  delirious  rovings  of  a  fever  ;  the  light  of 
reason  is  eclipsed  and  darkened,  the  powers  of  the  mind 
ate  all  obstructed,  or  the  languisbings  of  nature  have  so 
enfeebled  tnem,  that  either  we  cannot  exercise  them  to  any- 
spiritual  purposes,  or  we  are  forbid  to  do  it,  for  fear  of 
counter-workiijor  the  physician,  increasing  the  malady,  and 
hastening  our  deuh.  Thus  we  are  not  capable  of  making 
any  new  preparatnn,  for  the  important  work  of  dying  ; 
we  can  make  use  oi  none  of  the  means  of  grace,  nor  do 
any  thing  more  to  sectre  an  interest  in  the  love  of  God,  the 
salvation  of  Christ,  anl  the  blessings  of  heaven. 

This  is  a  very  dismal  thought  indeed.  But  the  watch- 
ful Christian  hath  this  blensedness,  that  he  is  fit  to  receive 
the  sentence  of  death  in  any  form  ;  nor  lethargies,  nor  de- 
liriums, nor  languors  of  nature,  ",an  destroy  the  seedof  grace 
and  religion  in  the  heart,  which  were  sown  there  in  the 


48  .  THE  WATCHFUL  CHRISTIAN 

days  of  health  :  nor  can  any  of  the  formidable  attendants 
of  death  cancel  his  former  transactions  with  God  and. 
Christ,  about  his  immortal  concerns.  That  great  and  mo- 
mentous work  was  done  before  death  appeared,  or  any 
of  its  attendants.  .  He  was  not  so  unwise,  as  to  leave  mat- 
ters of  infinite  importance  at  that  dreadful  hazard.  He  is 
not  now  to  seek  after  a  lost  God,  nor  to  .begin  his  repen- 
tance for  past  sins.  He  is  not  now  a  stranger  at  the  throne 
of  grace,  nor  beginning  to  learn  to  pray.  He  is  not  now 
commencing  his  acquaintance  with  Jesus  Christ  his  Sa- 
viour, in  the  midst  of  a  tumult  and  hurry  of  thoughts  and 
fears  ;  nor  are  the  works  of  faith,  and  love,  and  holiness, 
to  be  now  begun.  Dreadful  work  indeed,  and  infinitely 
hazardous  !  to  begin  to  be  convinced  of  sin  on  the  borders 
of  death,  and  to  make  our  first  enquiries  after  God  and  hea- 
ven, upon  the  very  brink  of  hell!  to  begin  to  ask  for  par- 
don, when  we  can  live  in  sin  no  longer  ;  to  cry  out,  Jesus, 
save  me,  when  the  waves  of  the  wrath  of  God,  are  break- 
ing in  upon  the  drowning  soul  !  Hopeless  condition  and 
extreme  wretchedness  !  to  have  all  the  .hard  work  of  con- 
version to  go  through,  under  the  sinkings  of  feeble  nature, 
and  to  begin  the  exercises  of  virtue  and  godliness,  undei 
the  wild  disorders  of  reason  !  What  a  madness  is  it,  to 
leave  our  infinite  concerns  at  such  a  horrible  uncertainty .' 
But  these  are  not  thy  circumstances,  oh  wakeful  Ch<r/s 
tian1;  nor  was  this  the  case  of  our  young  departed  friend, 
though  her  distemper  soon  discomposed  her  reasoningpow-' 
ers,  and  gave  her  very  little  opportunity  to  make  apres- 
ent  preparation  for  dying.  But  she  had  heard  the  yoice 
of  Christ  in  his  gcspel  betimes,  and  awoke  to  righteous- 
ness at  his  call,  that.she  might  be  always  ready  for  his 
summons  in  death.  Religion  was  her  early  c/fe>  a  fear  to 
offend  God  possessed  and  governed  her  thoughts  and  ac- 
tions from  her  childhood,  and  heavenly  tnngs  were  her 
youthful  choice.  She  had  appeared,  for  some  years,  in 
the  public  profession  of  Christianity,  a^d  maintained  the 
practice  of  godliness  in  the  church,  And  the  world  ;  but 
it  began  much  more  early  in  secret.,  Her  beloved  closet, 
and  her  retiring  hours,  were  silent  witnesses  of  her  dai- 
ly converse  with  God,  and  her  SaVaour,  There  she  devo- 
ted her  soul  to  her  Creator  betimes,  according  to  the  en- 
couragements and  rules  of  tte  gospel  of  Christ,  and  there 
she  found  peace  and  salvatUn.  It  was  there  she  made  a 


DYING  IN  PEACE.  49 

conscientious  recollection  -of  the  sermons  she  heard  in 
public,  from  her  tender  years,  and  left  behind  her  these 
fruits  of  her  memory  and  her  pen,  to  attest  what  improve- 
ments she  gained  in  knowledge,  by  the  ministrations  of 
the  word ;  and  her  cabinet  has  now  discovered  to  us  anoth- 
er set  of  memoirs,  wherein  she  continually  observed  what 
advances  she  might  make  in  real  piety  by  those  weekly 
seasons  of  grace. 

It  was  under 'these  influences  she  maintained  a  most 
dutiful  and  affectionate  behaviour  to  her  honoured  parents, 
and  with  filial  fondness  mingled  with  esteem,  submission  and 
reverence,  paid  her  constant  regards  to  the  lady  her  mo- 
ther, in  her  widowed  estate.  It  was  by  the  united  princi- 
ples of  grace  and  nature,  she  lived  with  her  younger  sis- 
ters in  uncommon  harmony  and  friendship,  as  though  one 
heart  and  soul  animated  them  all.  •  It  was  under  these  in- 
fluences she  ever  stood  upon  her  guard,  amongst  all  the  in- 
nocent freedoms  of  life :  and  though  she  did  not  immure 
herself,  in  the  walls  of  a  mother's  house,  but  indulged  a 
just  curiosity  to  learn  some  of  the  forms  of  the  world, 
the  magnificence  of  courts,  and  the  grandeurs  of  life ;  yet 
she  knew  how  far  to  appear  among  them,  and  when  to  re- 
tire. Nor  did  she  forbid  herself  all  the  polite  diversions 
of  youth,  agreeable  to  her  rank ;  nor  did  reason  or  reli- 
gion, or  her  superior  relatives  forbid  her ;  yet  she  was 
still  awake  to  secure  all  that  belongs  to  honour  and  virtue, 
nor  did  she  use  to  venture  to  the  utmost  bounds,  of  what 
sobriety  and  religion  might  allow.  Danger  of  guilt  stands 
near  the  extreme  limits  of  innocence. 

Shall  I  let  this  paper  inform  the  world,  with  what  friend- 
ly decency,  she  treated  her  young  companions  and  acquain- 
tance ;  how  far  from  indulging  the  modish  liberties  of 
scandal  on  the  absent ;  how  much  she  hated  those  scornful 
and  derisive  airs,  which  persons  on  higher  ground,  too  of- 
ten assume  toward  those  who  are  seated  in  the  inferior 
ranks  of  life  ?  Is  it  proper  I  should  say,  how  much  her 
behaviour  won  upon  the  esteem  of  all  that  knew  her, 
though  I  could  appeal  to  the  general  sorrow  at  her  death, 
to  confirm  the  truth  of  it  ?  But  who  can  forbear  on  this 
occasion,  to  take  notice,  how  far  she  acquired  that  lovely 
character  in  her  narrow  and  private  sphere,  which  seems 
almost  to  have  been  derived  to  her  by  inheritance,  from 
her  honoured  father,  deceased,  who  had  the  tears  of  his 

7  E 


5C  THE  WATCHFUL  CHRISTIAN 

country  long  dropping  upon  his  tomb,  and  whose  memory 
yet  lives  in  a  thousand  hearts  ?  , 

Such  a  conversation,  and  such  a  character,  made  up  of 
piety  and  virtue,  were  prepared  for  the  attacks  of  a  fever, 
with  malignant  and  mortal  symptons.  Slow  and  unsus- 
pected were  the  advances  of  .the  disease,  till  the  powers 
of  reason  began  to  falter  and  retire,  till  the  heralds  of  death 
had  made  their  appearance,  and  spread  on  her  bosom,  their 
purple  ensigns.  When  these"  disorders  began,  her  lucid 
intervals  were  longer,  and  while  she  thought  no  person  was 
near,  she  could  address  herself  to  God,  and  say,  how  often 
she  had  given  herself  to  him ;  she  hoped  she  had  done  it 
sincerely,  and  found  acceptance  with  him,  and  trusted  that 
she  was  not  deceived.  The  gleams  of  reason  that  broke 
in  between  the  clouds,  gave  her  light  enough  to  discern  her 
own  evidences  of  piety,  and  refresh  her  hope.-  Then  she 
repeated  some  of  the  last  verses  of  the  139th  Psalm  in 
metre,  viz. 

"  Lord,  search  my  soul,  try  every  thought : 
Tho'  my  own  heart  accuse  me  not, 
Of  walking  in  a  false  disguise, 
I  beg  the  trial  of  thine  eyes. 

Doth  secret  mischief  lurk  within  ! 
Do  I  indulge  some  unknown  sin  ? 
O  turn  my  feet  whene'er  I  stray, 
And  lead  me  in  thy  perfect  way." 

She  was  frequent  and  importunate  in  her  requests  for  the 
Psalm-book,  that  she  might  read  that  Psalm,  or  at  least 
have  it  read  to  her  throughout  ;  and  it  was  with  some  dif- 
ficulty, we  persuaded  her  to  be  composed  in  silence  :  thus 
sincerely  willing  was  she,  that  God  might  search  and  try 
her  heart,  still  hoping  well  concerning  her  spiritual  state, 
yet  still  solicitous  about  the  assurance  of  her  own  sinceri- 
ty, in  her  former  transactions  with  heaven. 

The  next  day  among  the  roving  of  her  thoughts,  she  re- 
hearsed all  those  verses  of  the  17th  Psalm,  which  are  par- 
aphrased in  the  same  book,  with  very  little  faltering  in  a 
line  or  two : 

"  Lord  I  am  thine ;  but  wilt  thou  prove 
My  faith,  my  patience,  and  my  love,"  &c. 

The  traces  of  her  thoughts  under  this  confusion  of  animal 
nature,  retained  something  in  them  divine  and  heavenly. 
0  blessed  situation  of  soul,  when  we  stand  prepared  for 


DYING  IN  PEACE.  51 

death,  though  it  come  with  the  formidable  retinue  of  a 
disordered  brain,  and  clouded  reason  '.  It  would  be  too 
long  at  present  to  represent  to  you  the  '  sad  consequences 
of  being  found  asleep  when  Christ  comes  to  call  us  away 
from  this  world,'  I  shall  therefore  only  make  these  three 
reflections. 

Reflect.  1.  '  None  can  begin  too  early  to  awake  to 
righteousness,  and  prepare  for  the  call  of  Christ,  since  no 
one  is  too  young  to  be  sent  for  by  his  messenger  of  death.' 
I  do  not  here  speak  of  the  state  of  infancy,  when  persons 
can  hardly  be  said  to  be  in  a  personal  state  of  trial  :*  but 
when  I  say,  l  none  can  awake  too  early  to  mind  the  things 
of  religion,'  I  mean,-  after  reason  begins  its  proper  exer- 
cise, and  this  appears  sometimes  in  early  childhood.  All 
our  life  in  this  world,  compared  with  heaven,  is  a  sort  of 
night  and  season  of  darkness  ;  and  if  our  Lord  summon 
us  away  "  in  the  first  watch  of  the  night,"  in  the  midst  of 
youth  and  vigour,  and  the  pleasing  allurements  of  flesh 
and  sense,  we  are  in  a  deplorable  state  if  we  are  found 
.sleeping,  and  hurried  away  from  earth,  into  the  invisible 
world,  in  the  midst  of  our  foolish  dreams  of  golden  vani- 

*  Properly  speaking,  no  one  can  now  be  Said  to  be  in  a  state  of  trial, 
since  all  are  in  a  state  of  condemnation.  Rom.  v.  19.  The  trial  has  been 
made ;  man  has  fallen ;  and  all  are  "  by  nature  children  of  wrath."  What 
the  author  and  others  mean  by  "  a  personal  state  of  trial"  is  their  being  pla- 
ced under  a  dispensation  of  long  suffering,  in  which  time  is  afforded  for  the 
exercise  of  unmerited  grace  towards  those  who  are  the  subjects  of  it;  occa- 
sion given  to  all  the  adult  part  of  the  human  race  to  develope  their  real 
character,  as  alienated  from  God  ;  and,  in  those  places  especially  where  the 
Lord  has  sent  the  gospel,  opportunity  granted  to  embrace  the  overtures  of 
mercy,  and  thus  return  to  the  Fountain  of  blessedness  from  which  they  have 
sinfully  •departed.  The  trial  consists  in  sufficient  opportunity  and  privilege 
being  bestowed  upon  them,  and  such  a  course  of  discipline  administered,  as 
may  have  a  tendency  to  lead  them  to  repentance,  and  to  God.  If  they  im- 
prove the  circumstances  in  which  they  are  placed,  to  the  glory  of  God,  and 
the  salvation  of  their  souls,  it  shows, — not  that  they  have  caused  themselves 
to  differ, — but  that  they  have  "  obtained  mercy  of  the  Lord  to  be  faithful." 
If  they  neglect  and  misimprove  their  privileges,  and  persevere  in  sin,  they 
exhibit  the  fearful  nature  of  our  fallen  state,  demonstrate  the  power  and 
magnitude  of  that  grace  by  which  any  are  saved,  and  justify  to  every  mind 
and  conscience  the  divine  procedure,  in  condemning  all  who  live  and  die 
impenitent.  To  say  of  any,  therefore,  that  they  are  in  "  a  stale  of  personal 
trial,"  in  any  other  sense  than  that  they  are  placed  in  such  circumstances,  aa 
to  show  the  power  of  sin,  or  of  grace  in  them,  according  as  the  one  or  the 
other  of  these  contrary  principles  operates  and  reigns,  would  be  opposed  to 
fact;  and  as  the  language  doe's  not  quadrate  very  well  with  Scripture,  or 
with  the  true  state  of  the  case,  it  would  be  better  not  to  employ  it.-r-ED. 


52  THE   WATCHFUL  CHRISTIAN 

ty.  Dreadful  indeed,  to  have  a  young  thoughtless  crea- 
ture carried  off  the  stage,  sleeping  and  dead  in  trespasses 
and  sins  !  Let  those  that  arc  drunk  with  wine  fall  asleep 
upon  the  top  of  a  mast  in  the  middle  of  the .  sea,  where 
the  winds  and  the  waves  are  tossing  and  roaring  all  around 
them  ;  let  a  madman  who  has  lost  his  reason,  lie  down  to 
sleep  upon  the  edge  of  a  precipice,*  where  a  pit  of  fire  and 
brimstone  is  burning  beneath  him,  and  ready  to  receive  his 
fall  ;  but  let  not  young  sinners,  whose  rational  powers  are 
in  exercise,  and  whose  life  is  every  moment  a  mere  un- 
certainty, venture  to  go  on  in  their  dangerous  slumbers, 
while  the  wrath  of  a  God  and  eternal  misery  attend  them, 
if  they  die  before  they  are  awake.  • 

It  is  granted  that  no  power  beneath  that  which  is  divine, 
can  effectually  quicken  a  dead  soul,  and  awaken  it  into  a 
divine  life.  It  is  the  work  of  "  God  to  quicken  the  dead," 
Rom.  iv.  17.;  Eph.  ii.  5.  It  is  the  son  of  God  who  is  the 
"light  and  life  of  the  world,"  John  i.  4,  to  whom  "the 
Father  hath  given  this  quickening  power,"  John,  vi.  26. 
He  calls  sinners  to  awaken  them  from  their  deadly  sleep, 
Eph.  v.  14;  and  "they  live  by  him,  as  he  lives  by  the 
Father,"  John  vi.  57.  He  awakens  dead  souls  to  life,  by 
the  same  living  spirit,  which  "  shall  quicken  their  mortal 
bodies,"  and  raise  them  from  the  grave,  Rom.  viii.  9,  11, 
13;  2  Cor.  iii.  3,  which  spirit  he  "  hath  received  from  the 
Father,"  John  iii.  34.  And  on  this  account  we  are  to 
seek  the  vital  influences  of  this  grace  from  heaven,  by 
constant  and  importunate  prayer.  Yet  in  my  text,  as  well 
as  in  other  scriptures,  "  awaking  out  of  sleep,"  and 
"watching  unto  righteousness,"  is  represented  as  our  duty, 
and  we  are  to  exert  all  our  natural  powers  with  holy  fer- 
vency, for  this  end,  while  our  daily  petitions  draw  down 
from  heaven  the  promised  aid  of  grace.  Our  diligence  indu.- 
ty,  and  our  dependence  on  the*  divine  power  and  mercy,  are 
happily  and  effectually  joined  in  the  command  of  our  Sa- 
viour, on  this  very  occasion,  in  one  of  his  parables  ;  Mark 
xiii.  33,  "  Watch  and  pray,  for  ye  know  not  when  the 
time  is  that  the  Lord  will  come."  And  again,  chap.  xiv. 
38,  "  Watch  and  pray  that  ye  enter  not  into  temptation." 
Trust  not  in  your  own  strength  and  sufficiency  for  the  glo- 
rious change  to  be  wrought  in  your  sinful  hearts,  and  yet 
neglect  not  your  own  labours  and  restless  endeavours  un- 
der a  pretence,  that  it  is  God's  work  and  not  yours. 


DYING  IN  PEACE.  53 

"  Awake  thou  that  sleepest,  and  arise  from  the  dead,  and 
Christ  shall  give  thee  light." 

Nor  should  frail  dying  creatures  in  their  youngest  years, 
delay  this  work,  one  day,  or  one  hour,  since  the  conse- 
quences of  being  found  asleep  when  Christ  calls,  are  ter- 
rible indeed.  We  are  beset  with  mortality  all  around  us ; 
the  seeds  of  disease  and  dissolution  are  working  within 
us  from  our  very  birth  and  cradle,  ever  since  sin  entered 
into  our  natures  ;  and  we  should  ever  be  in  a  readiness  to 
remove  hence,  since  we  are  never  secure  from  the  sum- 
mons of  heaven,  the  stroke  of  death,  and  the  demands  of 
the  -grave. 

There  was  a 'lovely  boy,  the  son  of  the  Shunamite,  who 
was  given  to  his  mother  in  a  miraculous  way,  and  when 
he  was  in  the  field  among  the  reapers,  he  cried  out,  my 
head,  my  head ;  he  was  carried  home  immediately,  and 
in  a  few  hours  died  in  his  mother's  bosom,  2  Kings  iv.  18. 
Who  would  have  imagined  that  head-ache  should  have 
been  death,  and  that  in  so  short  a  time  too  ?  This  is  al- 
most the  case  which  we  lament  at  present ;  the  head-ache 
was  sent  but  a  few  days  before, -nor  was  the  pain  very  in- 
tense, nor  the  appearance  dangerous,  yet  it  became  the  fa- 
tal, though  unexpected  fore-runner  of.  death. 

This  providence  is  an  awful  warning-piece  to  all  her 
young  acquaintance,  to  be  ready  for  a-  sudden  removal  ; 
for  she  was  of  a  healthy  make,  and  seemed  to  stand  at  as 
great  distance  from  the  gates  of  death  as  any  of  youc  but 
the  firmest  constitution  of  human  nature  is  born  with  death 
in  it.  From  every  age,  and  every  spot  of  ground,  and 
every  moment  of  time,  there  are  short  and  sudden  ways 
of  descent  to  the  grave.  Trap-doors  (if  I  may  use  so  low 
i  metaphor)  are  always  under  us,  and  a  thousand  unseen 
avenues  to  the  regions  of  the  dead.  A  malignant  fever 
strikes  the  strongest  nature  with  a  mortal  blast,  at  the 
command  of  the  great  Author  and  Disposer  of  life.  My 
youngest  hearers  may  be  called  away  from  the  earth,  by 
the  next  pain  that  seizes  them.  Nothing  but  religion, 
early  religion,  and  sincere  godliness,  can  give  you  hope  in 
youthful  death,  or  leave  a  fragrant  savor  on  your  name  or 
memory  among  those  that  survive. 

Reflect.  2.  If  such  blessedness  as  I  have  described, 
belong  to  every  watchful  Christian  at  the  hour  of  deatb, 
then  it  may  not  be  improper  here  to  take  notice  of  <  some 

E2 


54  THE  WATCHFUL  CHRISTIAN 

peculiar  advantages  which  attend  those  who  shake  off  tha 
deadly  sleep  of  sin  in  their  younger  years,  and  are  awake 
early  to  God  and  religion.' 

(1.)  They  have  much  fewer  sins  to  mourn  over' on  a 
death-bed,  and  they  prevent  much  hitter  repentance  for 
youthful  iniquities.  Holy  Job  was  a  man  of  distinguished 
piety,  and  God  himself  pronounces  of  him  that  "  there  was 
none  like  him  in  all  the  earth,"  Job  i.  2§.  But  it  is  a 
question  whether  his  most  early  days  were  devoted  to  God, 
and  whether  he  was  so  watchful  over  his  behaviour,  in  that 
dangerous  season  of  life ;  for  he  makes  a  heavy  complaint  in 
his  addresses  to  God,  Job  xiii.  26,  "Thou  writest  Bitter 
things  against  me,  and  makest  me  to  possess  the  iniquities 
of  my  youth."  The  sooner  we  begin  to  be  awake  to  ho 
liness,  the  more  of  these  follies  and  sorrows  are  prevented. 
Happy  those  who  have  the  fewest  of  them,  to  embitter 
their  following  lives,  or  make  a  death-bed  painful  ! 

(2.)  Young  persons  have  fewer  attachments  to  th*e  w.orld, 
and  the  persons  and  things  of  it,  which  are  round  about 
them,  and  are  more  ready  to  part  with  it  when  their  souls 
are  united  to  God  by  an  early  faith  and  love.  They  have 
not  yet  entered  into  so  numerous  engagements  of  life,  nor 
dwelt  long  enough  here  to  have  their  hearts  grown  so  fast 
on  to  creatures,  which  usually  makes  the  parting  stroke  so 
full  of  anguish  and  smarting  sorrow.  A  child  can  much 
more  easily  ascend  to  heaven,  and  leave  a  parent  behind, 
without  that  tender  and  painful  solicitude,  which  a  dying 
parent  has  for  the  welfare  of  a  surviving  child.  The  sur- 
render of  all  mortal  interests  at  the  call  of  God,  is  much 
more  easy  when  our  souls  are  not  tied  to  them  by  so  ma- 
ny strings,  nor  united  by  so  many  of  the  softer  endear- 
ments of  nature,  and  where  grace  has  taught  us  to  practise 
an  early  weaning  from  all  temporal  comforts,  and  a  little 
loosened  our  hearts  from  them,  by  the  faith  of  things 
eternal. 

(3.)  Those  that  have  been  awake  betimes  to  godliness, 
give  peculiar  honours  to  the  gospel  at  death,  and  leave  this 
testimony  to  the  divine  religion  of  Jesus,  that  it  was  able 
to  subdue  passion  and  appetite  in  that  season  of  life,  when 
they  are  usually  strongest  and  most  unruly.-  They  give 
peculiar  credit  and  glory  to  the  Christian  name  and  the 
gospel,  which  has  gained  them  so  many  victories  over  the 


DYING  IN  PEACE.  55 

enemies  of  their  salvation,  at  that  age  wherein  multitudes 
are  the  captives  of  sin,  and  slaves  to  folly  and  vanity. 

(4.)  Those  Christians  who  are- awake  to  God  in  their 
early  years,  leave  more  happy  and  powerful  examples  of 
living  and  dying,  to  their  young  companions  and  acquaint- 
ance. It  is  the  temper  of  every  age  of  life,  to  be  more  in- 
fluenced and  affected  by  the  practice  of  persons  of  the  same 
years.  Sin  has  fewer  excuses  to  make,  in  order  to  shield 
itself  from  the  reproof  of  such  examples,  who  have  re- 
nounced it  betimes ;  and  virtue  carries  with  it  a  more  ef- 
fectual motive  to  persuade  young  sinners  to  piety  and 
goodness,  when  it  can  point  to  its  votaries  of  the  same  age, 
and  in  the  same  circumstances  of  life.  <  Why  may  not 
this  be  practised  by  you,  as  well  as  by  your  companions 
round  about  you,  of  the  same  age  ?'  But  I  muet  hasten  to 
the  last  reflection. 

Reflect.  3.  '  When  we  mourn  the  death  of  friends  who 
were  prepared  for  an  early  summons,  let  their  preparation 
be  our  support.'  Blessed  be  God  they  were  not  found 
sleeping  !  While  we  drop  our  tears  upon  the  grave  of 
any  young  Christian  who  was  awake  and  alive  to  God,  that 
blessedness  which  Christ  himself  pronounces  upon  them, 
is  a  sweet  cordial  to  mingle  with  our  bitter  sorrows,  and 
will  greatly  assist  to  dry  up  the  spring  of  them.  The  idea 
of  their  piety,  and  their  approbation  in  the  sight  of  God, 
is  a  balm  to  heal  the  wound,  and  give  present  ease  to  the 
heart-ache. 

We  are  ready  to  run  over  their  virtues,  and  spread 
abroad  their  amiable  qualities  in  our  thoughts,  and  then, 
with  seeming  reason,  we  give  a  loose  to  the  mournful  pas- 
sion ;  whereas  all  these,  when  set  in  a  true  light,  are  real 
ingredients  towards  our  relief. 

We  lament  the  loss  of  our  departed  friend,  when  we 
review  that  capacious  and  uncommon  power  of  memory, 
which  the -God  of  nature  had  given  her,  and  which  was  so 
well  furnished  with  a  variety  of  human  and  divine  knowl- 
edge, and  was  stored  with  a  rich  treasure  of  the  word  of 
God,  so.  that  if  Providence  had  called  her  into  a  more 
public  appearance,  she  might  have  stood  up  in  the  world 
as  a  burning  and  shining  light,  so  far  as  her  sex  and  station 
required.  This  furniture  of  the  mind  seems  indeed  to  be 
lost  in  death,  and  buried  in  the  grave ;  but  we  give  in  too 
much  to  the  judgment  of  sense.  Did  not  this  extensive 


56  THE  WATCHFUL  CHRISTIAN 

knowledge  lay  a  foundation  for  her  early  piety  ?  And  did 
it  not,  by  this  means,  prepare  her  for  a  more  speedy  re- 
moval to  a  higher  school  of  improvement,  and  a  world  of 
sublimer  devotion  ?  Ajid  does  she  not  shine  there  among 
the  better  and  brighter  company  ? 

We  mourn  again  for  our  loss  of  a  person  so  valuable, 
when  we  think  of  that  general  calmness  and  sedateness  pf 
soul,  which  she  possessed  in  a  peculiar  degree,  so  that  she 
Was  not  greatly  elevated  or  depressed,  by  common  accidents 
or  occurrences  :  but  this  secured  her  from  the  rise  of  un- 
ruly passions,  those  stormy  powers  of  nature,  which  some- 
times sink  us  into  guilt  and  distress,  and  make  us  unwilling 
and  afraid  of  the  sudden  summons  of  Christ,  lest  he  should 
find  us  under  these  disorders. 

We  think  of  her  firmness  of  spirit,  and  that  steady  re- 
solution, which,  joined  with  a  natural  reserve,  was  a  happy 
guard  against  many  of  the. forward  follies  and  dangers  of 
youth,  and  proved  a  successful  defence  against  some  of  the 
allurements  and  temptations  of  the  gayer  years  of  life  : 
and  then  we  mourn  afresh  that  a  person  so  well  formed  for 
growing  prudence  and  virtue,  should  he  so  suddenly 
snatched  away  from  amongst  us.  But  this  steady  and  dis- 
passionate frame  of  soul,  well  improved  by  religion  and 
divine  grace,  became  an  effectual  means  to  preserve  her 
youth  more  unblemished,  and  made  her  spirit  fitter  for  the 
heavenly  world,  where  nothing  can  enter  that  is  defiled, 
and  whose  delights  are  not  tumultuous  as  ours  are  on  earth  ; 
but  all  is  a  calm  and  rational  state  of  joy. 

We  lament  yet  further  when  we  think  of  her  native 
goodness  and  unwillingness  to  displease  ;  but  goodness  is 
the  very  temper  of  that  region  to  which  she  is  gone,  and 
she  is  the  fitter  companion  for  the  inhabitants  of  a  world  of 
love. 

We  lament  that  such  a  pattern  of  early  piety  should  be 
taken  from  the  earth,  when  there  are  so  few  practisers  of 
it,  especially  among  the  youth  of  our  degenerate  age,  and 
in  plentiful  circumstances  of  life.  But  it  is  a  matter  of 
high  thankfulness  to  God,  who  endowed  her  with  those 
valuable  qualities,  and  trained  her  up  so  soon  for  a  world 
so  much  better  than  ours  is.  Let  our  sorrow  for  the  de- 
ceased be  changed  into  devout  praises  to  divine  grace. 
Let  us  imitate  the  holy  language  of  St.  Paul  to  the  Thes- 
salonians.  and  say,  l  we  are  comforted'  even  at  her  grave, 


CYING  IN  PEACE.  57 

<  in  all  our  affliction  and  distress,  by  the'  remembrance  of 
'her  faith'  and  piety.  'What'  sufficient  'thanks  can  we 
render  unto  God,  upon  her  account,  for  all  the  joy  where- 
with we  rejoice  for'  her  'sake  bjefore  our  God,  night  and 
day,  praying  exceedingly  that  we  m,ay  see  her  face'  in  the 
state  of  perfection  ?  And  '  may  God  himself,  even  our 
Father,  and  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  direct  our  way,'  to 
the  happy  world,  where  she  dwells,  1.  Thess.  iii.  7,  &c. 
The  imitation  of  what  was  excellent  in  her  life,  and  watch- 
ful readiness  to  follow  her  in  death,  are  the  best  honours 
we  can  pay  her  memory,  and  the  wisest  improvements  of 
the  present  providence.  May  the  Spirit  df  grace  teach  us 
these  lessons,  and  make  us  all  learn  them  with  power, 
that  when  our  Lord  Jesus  shaH  come  to  call  us  hence  by 
death,  or  shall  appear  with  all  his  saints,  in  the  great  ris- 
ing-day, we  may*  be  found  ampng  his  wakeful  servants, 
and  partake  of  the  promised  blessedness  !  Jlmen. 


DISCOURSE    III. 


SURPRISE  IN  DEATH. 

MARK  xiii.  36.  >  Watch  ye  therefore,  lest  coming  suddenly,  he  find  you 
sleeping. 

AMONG  the  parables  of-  our  Saviour,  there  are  several 
recorded  by  the  Evangelists,  which  represent  him  as  a 
Prince,  or  Lord  and  Master  of  a  family,  departing  for  a 
season  from  his  servants,  and  in  his  absence,  appointing 
them  their  proper  work,  with  a  solemn  charge  to  wait  for 
his  return  ;  at  which  time  he  foretold  them,  that  he  should 
require  an  account  of  their  behaviour  in  his  absence,  and 
he  either  intimates  or  expresses  a  severe  treatment  of  those, 
who  should  neglect  their  duty  while  he  was  gone,  or  make 
no  preparation  for  his  appearance.  He  informs  them  also 
that  he  should  come  upon  them  on  a  sudden,  and  for  this 
reason  charges  them  to  be  always  awake  and  upon  their 
guard,  ver.  35,  "Watch  ye  therefore,  for  ye  know  not 
when  the  Master  of  the  house  cometh,  whether  at  even, 
or  at  midnight,  or  at  cock-crowing,  or  in  the  morning." 

Though  the  ultimate  design  of  these  parables,  and  the 
*  coming  of  Christ'  mentioned  therein,  refer  to  the  great 
day  of  judgment,  when  he  shall  return  from  heaven,  shall 
raise  the  dead,  and  call  mankind  to  appear  before  his  judg- 
ment seat,  to  % receive  a  recompense  according  to  their 
works  ;  yet  both  the  duties  and  the  warnings,  which  are 
represented  in  these  parables,  seem  to  be  very  accommo- 
dable  to  the  hour  of  our  death  ;  for  then  our  Lord  Jesus, 
who  <  has  the  kej-s  of  death  and'  the  grave,  and  '  the  un- 
seen world,'  comes  to  finish  our  state  of  trial,  and  to  put  a 
period  to  -all  our  works  on  earth  :  He  comes  then  to  call 
us  into  the  invisible  state  ;  he  disposes  our  bodies  to  the 
dust,  and  our  souls  are  sent  into  other  mansions,  and  taste 
some  degrees  of  appointed  happiness  or  misery,  according 
to  their  behaviour  here.  The  solemn  and  awful  warning 

58 


SURPRISE  IN  DEATH.  59 

which  my  text  gives  us  concerning  the«return  of  Christ  to 
judgment,  may  be  therefore  pertinently  applied  to  the  sea- 
son, when  he  shall  send  his  messenger  of  death,  to  fetch 
us  hence  ;  "  Watch  ye  therefore,  lest  coming  suddenly, 
he  find  you  sleeping." 

When  I  had  occasion  to  treat  on  a  subject  near  akin  to 
this,*  I  shewed  that  there  was  a  distinction  to  be  made, 
between  the  '  dead  sleep  of  a  sinner,'  and  '  slumber  of  an 
unwatchful  Christian.'  Those  who  never  had  the  work 
of  religion  begun  in  their  hearts  or  lives,  are  sleeping  the 
sleep  of  death,  whereas  some  who  are  made  alive  by  the 
grace  of  Christ  yet  may  indulge  sinful  drowsiness,  and 
grow  careless  and  secure,  slothful  and  unactive.  "The 
wise  virgins  as  well  as  the  foolish,  were  slumbering  and 
sleeping,"  Matt.  xxv.  5.  The  mischiefs  and  sorrows  which 
attend  each  of  these,  when  Christ  shall  summon  them  to 
judgment,  or  shall  call  them  away  from  earth,  by  natilral 
death,  are  great  and  formidable,  though  they  are  not  equally 
dangerous.  Let  us  consider  each  of  them  in  succession, 
in  order  to  rouse  dead  sinners  from  their  lethargy,  and  to 
keep  drowsy  Christians  awake. 

First.  Let  us  survey  the  sad  consequences  which  attend 
those  that  are  ( asleep  in  sin  and  spiritually  dead,'  when  the 
hour  of  natural  death  approaches.  They  are  such  as  these: 
I.  '  If  they  happen  to  be  awakened  on  the  borders  of 
the  grave,  into  what  a  horrible  confusion  and  distress  of 
soul  are  they  plunged  ?'  What  keen  anguish  of  conscience 
forv  their  past  iniquities  seizes  upon  them  ?  What  bitter  re- 
morse and  self-reproaches,  for  the  seasons  of  grace  which 
they  have -vasted,  for  the  proposals  of  mercy  which  they 
have  abused  and  rejected,  and  for  the  divine  salvation 
which  seems  now  to  be  lost  for  ever,  and  put  almost  be- 
yond the  reach,  of  possibility  and  hope.  They  feel  the 
messenger  of  death,  faying  his  cold  hands  upon  them,  and 
they  shudder  and  tremble,- with  the  expectation  of  approach- 
ing misery.  They  look  up  to  heaven  and  they  see  a  God  of 
holiness  there,  as  a  consuming  fire  ready  to  devour  them, 
as  stubble  fit  for  the  flame.  They  look  to  the  Son  of  God, 
who  has  the  keys  of  death  in  his  hand,  and  who  calls  them 
away  from  the  land  of  the  living,  even  to  Jesus,  the  com- 

*  In  a  funeral  Sermon  for  Miss  Sarah  Abney,  on  Luke  xii.  37.  "  Blessed 
•re  those  servants,  whom  the  Lord,  when  he  cometh,  shall  find  watching.'* 


60  SURPRISE  IN  DEATH. 

passionate  Mediator,  but  they  can  scarce  persuade  them- 
selves to  expect  any  thing  from  him,  because  they  have 
turned  a  deaf  ear  so  long  to  the  invitations  of  his  gospel, 
and  so  long  affronted  his  divine  compassion.  They  look 
behind  them,  and  w  ith  painful  agonies  are  frighted  at  the 
mountains  of  their  former  guilt,  ready  to  overwhelm  them. 
They  look  forward,  and  see  the  pit  of  hell  opening  upon 
them,  with  all  its  torments  ;  long  darkness  without  a 
glimpse  of  light,  and  eternal  despair  with  no  glimmerings 
of  hope. 

Or,  if  now  and  then  amidst  their  horrors,  they  would 
try  to  form  some  faint  hope  of  mercy,  how  are  their  spir- 
its perplexed  with  prevailing  and  distracting  fears,  with 
keen  and  cutting  reflections'?-  '  Oh  that  I  had  improved 
my  former  seasons  for  reading,  for  praying,  for  meditating 
on  divine  things  !  But  I  cannot  read,  I  can  hardly  medi- 
tate, and  scarce  know  how  to  pray.  Will  the  ear  of  God 
ever  hearken  to  the  cries  and  groans  of  a  rebel  that  has 
so' long  resisted  his  grace  ?  Afe  there  any  pardons  to  be 
had  for  a  criminal,  who  never  left  his  sins  till  vengeance 
was  in  view  ?  Will  the  blood  of  Christ  ever  be  applied  to 
wash  a  soul,  that  has  wallowed  in  his  defilements,  till  death 
roused  him  out  of  them  ?  Will  the  meanest  favour  of  heav- 
en, be  indulged  to  a  wretch  who  has  grown  bold  in  sin,  in 
opposition  to  so  loud  and  repeated  warnings  ?  I  am  awake 
indeed,  but  I  can  see  nothing  round  me  but  distresses  and 
discouragements,  and  my  soul  sinks  within  me,  and  my 
heart  dies  at  the  thoughts  of  appearing  before  God/ 

It  is  a  wise,  and  just  observation  among  Christians, 
though  it  is  a  very  common  one,  that  the  Scriptures  give 
us  one  instance  of  a  penitent  saved  in  his  dyin£  hour,  and 
that  is  the  '  thief  upon  the  cross,'  that  so  none  ?night  utterly 
despair  ;  but  there  is  but  one  such  instance  given,  that 
none  might  presume.  The  work  of  repeutance  is  too  dif- 
ficult, and  too  important  a  thing,  to  be  le/t  to  the  languors 
of  a  dying  bed,  and  the  tumults  and  flutterings  of  thought, 
which  attend  such  a  late  conviction.  There  can  be  hardly 
any  effectual  proofs  given  of  the  sincerity  of  such  repent- 
ings  :  and  I  am  verily  persuaded  there  are  few  of  them 
sincere  ;  for  we  have  often  found  these  violent  emotions 
of  conscience  vanish  again,  if  the  sinner  has  happened  to 
recover  his  health.  They  seem  merely  to  be  the  wild  per- 
plexities and  struggles  of  nature,  averse  to  misery,  rather 


SURPRISE  IN  DEATH.  61 

than  averse  to  sin.  Their  renouncing  their  former  lusts, 
on  the  very  borders  of  hell  and  destruction,  is  more  like 
the  vehement  and  irregular  efforts  of  a  drowning  creature, 
constrained  to  let  go  a  most  beloved  object,  and  taking 
eager  hold  of  any  plank  for  safety ;  rather  than  the  calm 
and  reasonable,  and  voluntary  designs  of  a  mariner,  who 
forsakes  his  earthly  joys,  ventures  himself  in  a  ship  that 
is  offered  him,  and  sets  sail  for  the  heavenly  country.  I 
never  will  pronounce  such  efforts  and  endeavours  Desperate, 
lest  I  limit  the  grace  of  God,  which  is  unbounded ;  but  I 
ran  give  very  little  encouragement  for  hope  to  an  hour  or 
two,  of  this  vehement  and  tumultuous  penitence,  on  the 
very  brink  of  damnation.  '  Judas  repented,'  but  his  ago- 
nies of  soul,  hurried  him  to  hasten  his  own  death,  "  that 
he  naight'go  to  his  own  place."  And  there  is  abundance 
of  such  kind  of  repenting,  in  every  corner  of  hell  ;  that 
is  a  deep  and  dreadful  pit,  whence  there  is  no  redemption, 
though  there  are  millions  of  such  sort  of  penitents  ;  it  is 
a  strong  and  dark  prison,  where  no  beam  of  comfort  ever 
shines,  where  bitter  anguish' and  mourning  for  sins  past, 
is  no  evangelical  repentance,  but  everlasting  and  hopeless 
sorrow. 

II.  '  Those  that  are  found  sleeping  at  the  hour  of  death' 
are  carried  away  at  once,  from  all  their  sensual  pursuits  and 
enjoyments,  which  were  their  chosen  portion,  and  their 
highest  happiness.'  At  once  they  lose  all  their  golden 
dreams,  and  their  chief  good  is,  as  it  were,  snatched  away 
from  them  at  once  and  for  ever.  '  They  stand  on  slippery 
places,  they  are  brought  to  destruction  in  a  moment,'  and 
all  their  former  joys  '  are  like  a  dream  when  one  awaketh,' 
and  finds  himself  beset  round  with  terrors. 

Are  there  any  of  you  that  are  pleasing  yourselves  here 
in  the  days  of  youth  and  vanity,  and  indulge  your  dreams 
of  pleasure,  in  the  sleep  of  spiritual  death  ?  Think  of  the 
approaching  moment,  when  the  death  of  nature  shall  dis- 
solve your  sleep,  and  scatter  all  the  delusive  images  of 
sinful  joy.  This  separation  from  the  body  of  flesh,  is  a 
fearful  shock  given  to  the  soul,  that  makes  it  awake  indeed. 
Sermons  would  not  do  it ;  the  voice  of  the  preacher  was 
not  loud  enough  ;  strokes  of  affliction,  and  smarting  pro- 
vidences would  not  do  it ;  perhaps  the  soul  might  be  roused 
a  little,  but  dropt  into  profound  sleep  again  :  sudden  or 
surprising  deaths  near  them,  and  even  the  p<iins  of  nature 

F 


62  SURPRISE  IN  DEATH. 

in  their  own  flesh,  their  own  sicknesses  and  diseases,  did  not 
awaken  them,  nor  the  voice  of  the  Lord  in  them  all  :  but 
the  parting-stroke  that  divides  the  soul  and  body,  will 
terribly  awaken  the  soul  from  the  vain  delusion,  and  all  its 
fancied  delights  for  ever  vanish. 

When  they  are  l  visited  by  the  Lord  of  hosts  with  this 
thunder  and  earthquake,'  as  the  Prophet  Isaiah  speaks, 
when  (  this  storm  and  tempest'  of  death,  shall  shake  the 
sinner  out  of  his  airy  visions,  he  shall  '  be  as  an  hungry 
man  that  dreameth  he  was  eating,  but  awakes  and  his  soul 
is  empty  j  or  as  a  thirsty  creature  dreaming  that  he  drinks, 
but  he  awaketh,  and  behold  he  is  faint,'  and  his  soul  is 
pained  with  raging  appetite.  The  sinner  finds  to  his  own 
torment,  how  wretchedly  he  has  deceived  himself  and  fed 
upon  vanity.  Thefe  are  no  more  earthly  objects  to  please 
his  senses,  and  to  gratify  his  inclinations  ;  but  the  soul  for 
ever  lives  upon  a  rack  of  carnal  desire,  and  no  proper  ob- 
ject to  satisfy  it.  His  taste  is  not  suited  to  the.  pleasures 
of  a  world  of  spirits  ;  he  can  find  no  God  there  to  comfort 
him.  God  with  his  offers  of  grace  are  gone  for  ever,  and 
the  world  with  its  joys  are  for  ever  vanished,  while  the 
wretched  and  malicious  creatures,  into  whose  company  he 
is  hurried,  and  who  were  the  tempters  or  associates  of  his 
crimes,  shall  stand  round  him  to  become  his  tormentors. 

III.  'Though -death  will  awaken  .  sinful  souls  into  a 
sharper  and  more  lively  sense  of  divine  and  heavenly 
things  than  ever  they  had  in  this"  'world,  yet  they  shall 
never  be  awakened  to  spiritual  life  and  holiness.'  And  I 
think  I  may  add,  that  though  they  should  be  awakened  to 
a  sight  of  God,  and  his  justice,  and  his  grace,  to  a  sight  of 
heaven  and  hell,  more  immediate  and  perspicuous  than 
what  even  the  saints  themselves  usually  enjoy  in  this  life, 
yet  they  would  remain  still  under  the  bondage  of  their 
lusts,  still  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins.  They  shall  forever 
continue  unbeloved  ofGod,  and  incapable  of  all  the  happi- 
ness of  the  heavenly  state,  because  they  are  for  ever  averse 
to  the  holiness  of  God,  and  themselves  for  ever  unholy. 
It  is  only  in  the  present  state  of  trial,  and  under  the  pres- 
ent proposals  of  grace,  that  sleeping  sinners  can  be  awa- 
kened into  the  spiritual  and  divine  life.  The  voice  of  the 
Son  of  God, that  breaks  the  monuments  of  brass,  and  makes 
tombs  of  hardest  marble  yield  to  his  call,  shall  never  break 
one  heart  of  stone,  which  is  gone  down  to  death,  in  its  na- 


SURPRISE  IN  DEATH.  63 

tive  and  sinful  hardness.  That  almighty  voice  that  must 
awaken  the  nations  of  the  dead,  and  command  their  bodies 
up  from  the  grave,  shall  never  awaken  one  dead  soul,  when 
they  are  past  the  limits  of  this  life.  The  compassionate 
calls,  of  a  Saviour,  and  the  offers -of  mercy,  are  then  come 
to  their  utmost  period:  and  if  we  refuse  to  hear  the  call 
of  mercy  to  the  moment  of  death,  we  shall  then  be  terri- 
bly constrained  to  feel  the  loss  of  it,  but  never  able  to  ob- 
tain the  blessing.  . 

Obstinate  sleepers  shall  be  awakened  to  -see  God,  but 
only  as  Balaam  was:  "I  shall  see  him  but  not  nigh," 
Numb.  xxiv.  17.  The  saints  in  this  life  have  God  near 
them  in  all  their  trials,  as  a  father  and  a  friend,  to  uphold, 
to  comfort*,  to  sanctify,  theugh  they  see  him  but  darkly 
through  a  glass,  and  behold  but  lit'tle  of  his  power  or  glory. 
The  sinner  awaking  in  hell  shall,  perhaps,  have  a  clearer 
and  more  acute  perception  of  what  God  is,  than  any  saint 
on  earth:  but  he' shall  behold  him  as  an  enemy,  and  not  a 
friend.  If  he  beholds  him  in  the  glory  of  his  grace,  it  is 
at  a  dreadful  and  insuperable  distance  ;  there  is  no  grace 
for  him.  He  sees  him  in  his  holiness,  but  he  cannot  love 
hjm,  he  has  no  meltings  of  true  penitence  for  his  former 
rebellions  against  God,  his  heart  is  hardened  into  everlast- 
ing enmity,  and  shall  never  taste  of  his  love.  Hence  arise 
all  the  foul  and  gnawing  passions  of  envy,  malignity,  and 
long  despair,  which  are  the  very  image  of  Satan,  and  change 
mankind  into  devils. 

These  impenitent  sons  and  daughters  of  men,  shall  grow 

"  into  the  more  complete  likeness  of  those  wicked  spirits, 

and,  under  the  impressions  of  their  guilt  and  damnation, 

they  shall  rival  those  apostate  and  cursed  creatures,  in  the 

obstinate  haired  of  God,  and  all  that  is  holy. 

IV.  Hence  it  will  follow  in  the  last  place,  that  the  sin- 
ner who  is  *  fast  asleep  in  his  sins  at  -the  hour  of  death, 
shall  awake  into  such  a  life  as  is  worse  than  dying.'  He 
shall  be  surprised  all  at  once 'into  darkness  and  fire,  which 
have  no  gleam  of  light,  and'sorrows  without  mitigation, 
and  which  can  find  no  end.  The  punishment  of  hell  is 
not  called,  eternal  death,  to  denote  a  state  of  senseless  and 
stupid  existence  ;  but  death  being  the  most  opposite  to 
life,  and  all  the  enjoyments  of  it,  the  misery  of  hell  is  des- 
cribed by  death,  as  the  most  formidable  thing  to  nature, 
as -a  word  that  puts  a  period  to  all  the  enjoyments  of  this 


64  SURPRISE  IN  DEATH. 

mortal  life,  and  stands  directly  opposite  to  a  life  of  joy  and 
glory  in  the  immortal  world.  Happy  would  it  be  for  such 
souls  if  they  could  sink  into  an  everlasting  sleep,  and  grow 
stupid  and  senseless  for  ever  and  ever  ;  but  this  is  a  favour 
not  to  be  granted  to  those  who  have  been  constant  and  un- 
repenting  rebels,  against  the  law  and  the  grace  of  God. 

The  moment  when  the  body  falls  asleep  in  death,  the 
soul  is  more  awake  than  ever,  to  behold  its  own  guilt  and 
wretchedness.  It  has  then  such  a  lively  and  piercing  sense 
of  its  own  iniquities,  and  the  divine  wrath  that  is  due  to 
them,  as  it  never  saw  or  felt  before-  The  inward  senses 
of  the  soul  (if  I  may  so  express  it)  which  have  been  dark- 
ened and  stupified,  and  benumbed  in  this  body,  are  all 
awake  at  once,  when  the  veil  of  flesh  is  thrown"  off,  and  the 
curtains  are  drawn  ba'ck  which  divided  them  from  the 
world  of  spirits.  Every  thought  of  sin,  and  the  anger  of 
God,  wounds  the  spirit  deep  in  this  awakened  state,  though 
it  scarce  felt  any  thing  of  it  before  ;  and  "awounded  spirit 
who  can  bear  ?"  Prov.  xviii.  14.  But  sinners  must  bear 
it  days  without  end,  and  ages  without  hope. 

Then  the  crimes  they  have  committed,  and  the  sinful 
pleasures  they  have  indulged,  shall  glare  upon  their  re- 
membrance, and  stare  them  in  the  face  with  dreadful  sur- 
prise ;  and  each  of  them  is  enough  to  drive  a  soul  to  des- 
pair. Nor  can  they  turn  their  eyes  away  from  the  horrid 
sight,  for  their  criminal  practices  beset  them  around,  and 
the  naked  soul  is  all  sight  and  all  sense  ;  it  is  eye  and  ear 
all  over  ;  it  hears  the  dreadful  curses  of  the  law,  and  the 
sentence  of  the  Judge,  and  never,  never  forgets  it  This" 
is  the  character,  these  the  circumstances  of  an  obstinate 
sinner,  that  awakes  not  till  the  moment  of  death,  and  "  lift 
up  his  eyes  in  hell,"  as  our  Saviour  expresses  it.  These 
will  be  the  consequences  of  our  guilt  and  folly,  if  we  are 
found  in  a  dead  sleep  of  sin,  when  our  Lord  comes  to  call 
us  from  this  mortal  state. 

Secondly,  Let  us  spend  a  few  thoughts  also  upon  the 
dangerous  and  unhappy  circumstances  of  those  of  whom 
we  may  ( have  some  reason  to  hope,  that  they  have  once 
begun  religion  in  good  earnest,  and  are  made  spiritually 
alive,  but  have  indulged  themselves  in  drowsiness,  and 
worn  out  the  latter  end  of  their  days  in  a  careless,  secure, 
and  slothful  frame  of  spirit7 

1.  If  they  have  had  the  principle  ojf  vital  religion  wrought 


SURPRISE  IN  DEATH.  65 

in  their  hearts,  yet '  by  these  criminal  slumbers,  they  dar- 
ken and  lose  their  evidences  of  grace,  and  by  this  means, 
they  cut  themselves  off  from  the  sweet  reflections  and  com- 
forts of  it  on  a  dying  bed,  when  they  have  most  need  of 
them.'  They  know  not  whether  they  are  the  children  of 
God  or  not,  and  are  in  anxious  confusion  and  distressing 
fear.  They  have  scarce  any  plain  proofs  of  their  conver- 
sion to  God,  and  the  evidences  of  true  Christianity*  ready 
at  hand,  when  all  are  little  enough  to  support  their  spirits. 
They  have  not  used  themselves  to  search  for  them  by  self- 
enquiry,  and  to  keep  them  in  their  sight,  and  therefore 
they  are  missing  in  this  important  hour.  They  have  not 
been  wont  to  live  upon  their  heavenly  hopes,  and  they 
cannot  be  found  when  they  want  them  to  rest  upon  in 
death.  They  'die  therefore  almost  like  sinners,  though 
they  may  perhaps  have  been  once  converted  to  holiness, 
and  there  may  be  a  root  of  grace  remaining  in  them  ;  and 
the  reason  is,  because  they  have  lived  too  much  as  sinners 
do.  They  have  given  too  great  and  criminal  an  indul- 
gence, to  the  vain  and  worldly  cares,  or  the  trifling  amuse- 
ments of  this  life  ;  these  have  engrossed  almost  all  their 
thoughts  and  their  time,  and  therefore  in  the  day  of  death 
they  fall  under  terrors  and  painful  apprehensions  of  a 
doubtful  eternity  just  at  hand. 

If  we  have  not  walked  closely  with  God  in  this  world, 
we  may  well  be  afraid  to  appear  before  him  in  the  next. 
If  we  hav«  not  maintained  a  constant  converse  with  Jesus 
our  Saviour,  by  holy  exercises  of  faith  and  hope,  it  is  no 
wonder  if  we  are  not  so  ready  with  cheerfulness  and  joy, 
to  resign  our  departing  spirits  into  his  hand.  It  is  possi- 
ble we  may  have  a  right  to  the  inheritance  of  heaven,  hav- 
ing had  some  sight  of  it  by  faith  as  revealed  in  the  gospel, 
haying  in  the  main  chosen  it  for  our  portion,  and  set  our 
feet  in  the  path  of  holiness  that  leads  to  it ;  but  we  have 
so  often  wandered  out  of  the  way,  that  in  this  awful  and 
solemn  hour,  we  shall  be  in  doubt,  whether  we  shall  be  re- 
ceived at  the  gates,  and  enter  into  the  city. 

Such  unwatchful  Christians  have  not  kept  the  eternal 
glories  of  heaven,  in  their  constant  and  active  pursuit,  they 
have  not  lived  upon  them  as  their  portiqn  and  inheritance, 

*  That  is,  "  evidences"  of  their  being  truly  the  followers  of  Christ,  and  of 
having  an  interest  in  him. — ED. 

9  T2 


66  SURPRISE  IN  DEATH. 

they  have  been  too  much  strangers  to  the  invisible 
of  happiness,  and  they  know  not  how  to  venture  through 
death  into  it.  They  have  built '  indeed  upon  the  solid 
foundation,  Christ  Jesus'  and  the  gospel,  but  they  have 
mingled  so  much  '  hay  and  stubble'  with  the  superstructure, 
that  when  they  depart  hence,  or  when  they  appear  before 
Christ  in  judgment,  "  they  shall  suffer  great  loss  by  the 
burning  of  their  works,  yet  themselves  may  be  saved  so 
as  by  fire,"  1  Cor.  iii.  10 — 15.  They  may  pass  as  it  were 
by  the  flame  of  hell,  and  have  something  like  the  scorch- 
ing terrors  of  it  in  death,- though  the  abounding  and  for- 
giving grace  of  the  gospel  may  convey  them  safe  to  hea- 
ven. They  escape  as  a  man  that  is  awakened  with  the 
sudden  alarms  of  fire,  who  suffers  the  loss  of  his  substance, 
and  a  great  part  of  the  fruit  of  his  labours,  and  just  saves 
his  own  life.  They  plunge  into  eternity,  and  make  a  sort 
of  terrible  escape  from  hell. 

2.  'They  can  never  expect  any  peculiar  favours  from 
heaven  at  the  hour  of  death,  no  special  visitations  of  the 
comforting  Spirit,  nor  that  the  love  of  God,  and  the  joy  of 
his  presence,  should  attend,  them  through  the  dark  valley.' 
It  is  not  to  such  unwatchful  or  sleepy  Christians,  that  God 
is  wont  to  vouchsafe  his  choicest  consolations.     They  fall 
under  terrible  fears  about  the  pardon  of  their  sins,  when 
they  stand  in  most  need  of  the  sight  of  their  pardon  ;  and 
Christ,  as  the  ruler  of  his  church,  sees  it  fit  they  should 
be  thus  punished  for  their  negligence.     They  lay  hold  of 
the  promises  of  mercy  with  a  trembling  hand,  and  cannot 
claim  them  by  a  vigorous  faith,  because  they  have  not  been 
wont  to  live  upon  them,  nor  do  they  see  those  holy  cha- 
racters in  their  own  hearts  and  lives,  which  confirm  their 
title  to  them.     They  have  no  bright  views  of  the  celestial 
world,  and  earnests  of  their  salvation  ;  for  it  is  only  for 
watchful  souls,  that  these  cordials  are  prepared  in  the  faint- 
ing hour  :  it  is  only  to  the  watchful  Christian,  that  these 
fore-tastes  of  glory  -are  given.     "  The  fruit  of  righteous- 
ness is  peace,  and  the  effect  of  righteousness  is  quietness 
and  assurance  for  ever,"  Isai.  xxxii.  17.     "Blessed  is  he 
which  watcheth,  and  keepeth  his  garments"  clean,  that  he 
may  enter  with  triumph  into  that  city,  where  nothing  shall 
enter  that  defileth. 

3.  *  Slumbering  and  slothful  Christians  are  often-times 
left  to  wrestle  with  sore  temptations  of  Satan,  and  have 


SURPRISE  IN  DEATH.  67 

dreadful  conflicts  in  the  day  of  death  :'  and  the  reason  is 
evident,  because  they  have  not  watched  against  their  adver- 
sary, and  obtained  but  few  victories  over  him  in  their  life. 
These  temptations  are  keen  and  piercing  thorns,  that  en- 
ter deep  into  the  heart  of  a  dying  creature.  The  devil 
may  be  let  loose  upon  them  '  with  great  wrath,  knowing 
that  his  time  is  but  short ;'  and  yet  there  is  great  justice 
in  the  conduct  of  the  God  in  heaven,  in  giving  them  Up 
to  be  buffeted  by  the  powers  of  hell.  What  frightful  ag- 
onies are  raised  in  the  conscience,  by  the  tempter,  and  the 
accuser  of  souls,  on  a  sick  or  dying  bed,  can  hardly  be  de- 
scribed by  the  living,  and  are  known  only  to  those  who 
have  felt  them  in  death. 

4.  '  Such  drowsy  Christians  make  dismal  work  for  new 
and  terrible  repentance  on  a  death  bed  :'  for,  though  they 
have  sincerely  repented  in  times  past  of  their  former  sins, 
yet,  having  too  much  omitted  the  self-mortifying-duties, 
having  given  too  much  indulgence  to  temptation  and  folly, 
and  having  not  maintained  this  habitual  penitence  for  their 
daily  offences  in  constant  exercise,  their  spirits  are  now  filled 
with  fresh  convictions  and  bitter  remorse  of  heart.  The  guilt 
of  their  careless  and- slothful  conduct  finds  them  out  now, 
and  beset  them  around,  and  they  feel  most  a.cute  sorrows, 
and  wounding  reflections  of  conscience,  while  they  have 
need  of  most  comfort.  What  a  glorious  entrance  had  St.  Paul 
into  the  world  of  spirits,  and  the  presence  of  Christ  ?    He 
had  made  repentance,  and  mortification,  and  faith  in  Jesus, 
his  daily  work :  "  0  wretched  man  that  I  am !  who  shall 
deliver  me  from  the  body  of  this  death  ?     I  run,  I  fight,  I 
subdue  my  body,  and  keep  it  under ;  I  am  crucified  to  the 
world,  and  the  world  to  me  ;  the  life  which  I  live  in  the 
flesh,  I  live  by  the  faith  of  the  Son  of  God.'?     When  he 
was  "ready  to  be  offered  up,  and  the  time  of  his  departure 
was  at  hand,"  from  the  edge  of  the  sword,  and  the  bor- 
ders of  the  grave,  he  could  look  back  upon  his  former  life, 
and  say,  "  1  have  fought  the  good  fight,  I  have  finished  my 
course,  I  have  kept  the  faith ;  henceforth  there  is  laid  up 
for  me  a  crown  of  righteousness,  which  the  Lord  the  right- 
eous Judge  will  give  me."  2  Tim.  iv.  7,  8. 

5.  '  The  unwatchful  Christian,  at  the  hour  of  death,  has 
the  pain  and  anguish  of  reflecting,  that  he  has  omitted  ma- 
ny duties  to  God  and  man,  and  these  can  never  be  per- 
formed now ;   that  he  has  done  scarce  any  services  for 


68  SURPRISE  IN  DEATH. 

Christ  in  the  world,  and  those  must  be  left  for  ever  undone: 
there  is  no  further  work  or  device,  no  labours  of  zeal,  no 
activity  for  God  '  in  the  grave,'  whither  we  are  hastening, 
Eccl.  ix.  10.  <  Alas!  I  have  brought  forth  but  little  fruit 
to  God,  and  it  is. well  if  I  be  not  cast  away  as  an  unprofit- 
able servant     My  talents  have  lain  bound  up  in  rust,  or 
been  but  poorly  employed,  whilst  I  have  lain  slumbering 
and  unactive.     The  records  of  my  life  in  the  court  of  hea- 
ven, will  shew  but  very  little  service  for  God  amongst  men : 
I  have  raised  few  monuments  of  praise  to  my  Redeemer, 
and  I  can  never  raise  them  now.  I  shall  have  but  few  tes- 
timonies for  my  love  and  zeal,  to  appear  in  the  great  day 
of  account,  when  the  martyrs,  and  the  confessors,  and  the 
lively  Christians,  shall  be  surrounded  with  the  living  en- 
signs of  their  victories  over  sin  and  the  world,  and  their 
glorious  services  for  their  Redeemer.     Wretch  that  I  am ! 
that  I  have  loved  my  Lord  at  so  cold  a  rate,  and  lain  slum- 
bering on  a  bed  of  ease,  whilst  I  should  have  been  fight- 
ing the  battles  of  the  Lord,  and  gaining  daily  honours  for 
my  Saviour!' 

6.  '  As  such  sort  of  Christians  give  but  little  glory  to 
God  in  life,  so  they  do  him  no  honour  in  death:  they  are 
no  ornaments  to  religion  while  they  continue  here,  and 
leave  perhaps  but  little  comfort  with  their  friends  when 
they  go  hence.'  Doubtings  and  jealousies  about  their  eter- 
nal welfare,  mingle  with  our  tears  and  sorrows  for  a  dying- 
friend  ;  these  anxious  fears  about  the  departed  spirit  swell 
the  tide  of  our  grief  high,  and  double  the  inward  anguish. 
They  are  gone,  alas  !  from  our  world,  but  we  know  not 
whither  they  are  gone,  to  heaven  or  to  hell.  A  sad  farewel 
to  those  whom  we  love!  a  dismal  parting-stroke,  and  a 
long  heart  ache! 

And  what  honour  can  be  expected  to  be  done  to  God  or 
his  Son,  what  reputation  or  glory  can  be  given  to  religion 
and  the  gospel,  by  a  drowsy  Christian  departing,  as  it  were, 
under  a  spiritual  lethargy  ?  He  dies  under  a  cloud,  and 
casts  a  gloom  upon  the  Christian  faith.  St.  Paul  was  a 
man  of  another  spirit,  a  lively  and  active  saint,  full  of  vi- 
gour and  zeal  in  his  soul.  It  was  the  holy  resolution  and 
assurance  of  this  blessed  apostle,  "  that  Christ  should  be 
magnified  in  his  body,  whether  by  life  or  death,"  Phil.  i. 
20.  He  spent  'his  life'  in  the  service  of  Christ,  and  he 
could  rejoice  in  *  death  as  his  gain^  It  is  a  glory  to  the 


SURPRISE  IN  DEATS.  69 

gospel,  when  we  can  lie  down  and  die  with  courage,  in  the 
hope  of  its  promised  blessings.  It  is  an  honour  to  our 
common  faith,  when  it  overcomes  the  terrors  of  death,  and 
raises  the  Christian  to  a  song  of  triumph,  in  view  of  the 
last  enemy.  It  is  a  new  crown  put  upon  the  head  of  our  Re- 
deemer, and  a  living  cordial  put  into  the  hands  of  mourn- 
ing friends  in  our  dying  hour,  when  vre  can  take  our  leave 
of  them  with  holy  fortitude,  rejoicing  in  the  salvation  of 
Christ.  No  sooner  does  he  call  but. we  are  ready,  and  can 
answer,  with  holy  transport,  '  Lord  I  come.'  This  is  a 
blessing  that  belongs  only  to  the  watchful  Christian.  May 
every  one  of  us  be  awake  to  salvation  in  our  expiring 
moments,  and  partake  of  this  glorious  blessedness! 

I  proceed  now  to  a  few  remarks,  and  particularly  such 
as  relate  tD  the  necessity  and  duty  of  constant  watohfulness7 
and  the  hazardous  case  of  sleeping  souls. 

1.  Remark.  '  To  presume  on  long  life  is  a  most  danger- 
ous temptation,  for  it  is  the  common  spring  and  cause  of 
spiritual  sleep  and  drowsiness.'  Could  we  take  an  inward 
view  of  the  hearts  of  men,  and  trace  out  the  springs  of 
their  coldness  and  indifference  about  eternal  things,  and  the 
shameful  neglect  of  their  most  important  interests,  we 
should  find  this  secret  thought  in  the  bottom  of  their  hearts, 
that '  we  are  not  like  to  die  to-day  or  to-morrow.'  They 
put  this  evil  day  afar  off,  and  indulge  themselves  in  their 
carnal  delights,  without  the  solicitude  to  prepare  for  the 
call  of  God.  There  is  scarce  any  thing  produces  so  much 
evil  fruit  in  the  world,  so  much  shameful  wickedness  a- 
mongst  the  sensual  and  profane,  or  such  neglect  of  lively 
religion  among  real  Christians,  as  this  bitter  root  of  pre- 
sumption upon  life  and  time  before  us.  Matth.  XYI'V.  48, 
49,  "  The  evil  servant"  did  not  "  begin  to  smite  his  fellows 
and  to  eat  and  drink  with  the  drunken,"  till  he  "  said  in 
his  heart,  my  Lord  delayeth  his  coming:"  It  was  "while 
the  bridegroom  tarried,"  and  they  imagined  he  would  tar- 
ry longer,  that  even  the  wise  virgins  fell  into  slumbers. 
Ask  your  own  hearts,  my  friends,  does  not  this  thought 
secretly  lurk  within  you,  when  you  comply  with  a  tempt- 
ation, 'surely  I  shall  not  die  yet :.  I  have  no  sickness  up- 
on me,  nor  tokens  of  death, -I  shall  live  a  little  longer,  and 
repent  of  my  follies  ?'  Vain  expectation  and  groundless 
fancy!  when  you  see  the  young,  and  the  strong,  and  the 
healthy,  seized  away  from  the  rnidst  of  you,  and  the  final 


70  SURPRISE  IN  DEATH. 

period  put  at  once  to  all  their  works  and  designs  in  this 
life.  •  Yet  we  are  foolisn  enough  to  imagine  our  term  of 
life  shall  be  extended,  and  we  presume  upon  months  and 
years,  which  God  hath  not  written  down  for  us  in  his  own 
book,  and  which  he  will  never  give  us  to  enjoy. 

We  are  all  borderers  upon  the  river  of  death,  which 
conveys  us  into  the  eternal  world,  and  we  should  b&  ever- 
waiting  the  call  of  our  Lord,  that  we  may  launch  away 
with  joy,  to  the  regions  of  immortality.  But  thoughtless  crea- 
tures that  we  are,  we  are  perpetually  wandering  far  up, 
into  the  fields  of  sense  and  time,  we  are  gathering  the  gay 
.and  fading  flowers  that  grow  there,  and.  filling  our  laps 
with  them  as  a  fair  treasure,  or  making  garlands  for  ambi- 
tion to  crown  our"brows,till  one  and  anotherof  us  is  called  off 
on  n  snddfMi,  find  hurried awft.y  from  this  mortal  coast.  Those 
of  us  who  survive,  are  surprised'  a  little,  we  stand  gazing, 
we  follow  our  departing  friends  with  a  weeping  eye  for  a 
minute  or  two,  and  then  we  fall  to  our  amusements  again,  and 
grow  busy  as  before,  in  gathering  the  flowers  of  time  and 
sense.  0  how  fond  we  are  to  enrich  ourselves  with  these 
perishing  trifles,  and  adorn-  our  heads  with  honours  and 
withering  vanities,  never  thinking  which  of  us  may  receive 
the  next  summons  to  leave  all  behind  us,  and  stand  before 
God  ;  but  each  presumes,  <it  will  not  be  sent  to  me.'  We 
trifle  with  God  and  things  eternal,  or  utterly  forget  them, 
while  our  hands  and  our  hearts  are  thus  deeply  engaged  in 
the  pursuit  of  our.  earthly  delights.  All  our  powers  t)f 
thoughtand  action,  are  intensely  busied  amongst  the  dreams 
of  this  life,  while  we  are  asleep  to  God,  because  we  vainly 
imagine  he  will  riot  call  us  yet. 

2.  Remark.  '  Whatsoever  puts  us  in  mind  of  dying, 
should  be  improved  to  awaken  us  fr<3m  our  spiritual  sleep.' 
Sudden  deaths  near  us  should  have  this*  effect ;  our  young 
companions  and  acquaintance  snatched  away  from  among 
us  in  an  unexpected  hour,  should  become  our  monitors  in 
death,  and  teach  us  this  divine  and  needful  lesson.  The 
surprising  loss  of  our  friends  who  lay  near  our  hearts, 
should  put  us  in  mind  of  our  own  departure,  and  power- 
fully awaken  us  from  our  dangerous  slumbers.  Sinners, 
when  they  feel  no  sorrows,  think  of  no  death  ;  but  '  when 
the  judgments  of  God  are  in  the  earth,'  his .  Spirit .  can 
awaken  <the  inhabitants  of  the  world  to  learn  righteousness.' 
At  such  seasons  it  is  time  for  <  the  sinners  in  Zion'  to  be 


SUBPRISE  IN  DEATH.  71 

« afraid,'  and  tearfulness  to  surprise  the  hypocrites/  Even 
the  children  of  God  have  sometimes  need  of  painful  warning- 
pieces,  to  awaken  them  from  their  careless,  their  slothful, 
and  their  secure  frame  :  and  as  for  those  souls  who  are  in- 
deed awake  to  righteousness,  and  lively  in  the  practice  of  • 
all  religion  and  virtue,  such  sudden  and  awful  strokes  of 
Providence  have  a  happy  tendency  to  wean  them  from 
creatures,  and  keep  them  awake  to  God,  that '  when  their 
Lord  comes  he  may  find  them  watching,'  and  pronounce 
upon  thein  everlasting  blessedness. 

3.  Remark.  '  No  person  can  be  exempted  from  this 
duty  of  watchfulness,  till  he  is  Lord  of  his  own  life,  and 
can  appoint  the  time  of  his  own  dying.'  Then  indeed  you 
might  have  some  colour  for  your  carnal  indulgences,  some 
pretence  for  sleeping,  if  you  were  sovereign' of  death  and 
the  grave,  and  had  the  keys  in  your  own  hand. 

j\nd  truly  such  as  venture  to  sleep  in  sm,  do  in  effect 
say,  we  are  lords  of  our  own  life.  They  act  and  manage 
as  if  their  times  were  in  their  own  hands,  and  not  in  the 
hand  of  their  Maker.  But  the  watchful  Christian  lives  up- 
on that  principle,  which  David  professes,  Psal.  xxxi.  15, 
•'My  times  are  in  thine  hand,"  .0  Lord  ;  and  they  never 
give  rest  to  themselves  till  they  can  rejoice  with -him,  and 
say  to  the  Lord,  "  thou  art  my  God;  into  thy  hands 
I  commit  my  spirit,  for  thou  hast  redeemed  it,  and  I 
leave  it  to  thy  appointment  when  thou  wilt  dislodge  me 
from  this  body  of  flesh  and  blood,  and  call  me  into  thy 
more  hnmediate  presence."  If  we  could  but  resist  the 
messenger  of  death,  when  the  Lord  of  hosts  has  sent  it,  if 
we  could  shut  the  mouth  of  the  grave  when  the  Son  of 
God  has  opened  it  for  us,  with  the  key  that  is  entrusted 
in  his  hand,  we  might  say  -then  to  our  souls;  'Sleep  on 
upon  your  bed  of  ease,  and  take  your  rest ;  but  woe  be  to 
those  who  will  venture  to  sleep  in  an  unholy  and  unpar- 
doned  state,  or  even  allow  themselves  the  indulgence  of 
short  and  sinful  slumbers,  when  they  cannot  resist  death 
one  moment,  when  they  cannot  delay  the  summons  of 
heaven,  when  they  cannot  defer  their  appearance  before 
that  Judge,  whose  sentence  is  eternal  pleasure,  or  ever- 
lasting pain. 

Our  holy  watch  must  not  be  intermitted  one  moment, 
for  every  following  moment  is  a  grand  uncertainty.  There 
is  no  minute  of  life,  no  point  of  time,  wherein  I  can  say, 


72  SURPRISE  IN  DEATH, 

<  I  shall  not  die,'  and  therefore  I  should  not  dare  to  say, 
'  this  minute  I  will  take  a  short  slumber.'  What  if  my 
Lord  should  summon'  me  while  he  finds  me  sleeping  ? 
His  command  cannot  be  disobeyed,  the  very  call  and  sound 
.of  it  divides  me  from  flesh  and  blood,  and  all  that  is  mor- 
tal, and  sends  me  at  once  into  the  eternal  world,  for  it  is 
an  almighty  voice. 

4.  Remark.  As  it  is  a  foolish  and  dangerous  thing,  for 
any  of  the  sons  and  daughters  of  men  to  presume  upon 
long  life,  and  neglect  their  watch,  so  <  persons  under  some 
peculiar  circumstances,  are  eminently  called  to  be  ever 
wakeful.'  Give  me  leave  here  to  reckon  up  some  of  them, 
and  make  a  particular  address  to  the  persons  concerned. 

(1.)  'Is  your  constitution  of  body  weak  and  feeble?' 
You  carry  then  a  perpetual  warning  about  you  never  to 
indulge  sinful  drowsiness.  Every  languor  of  nature  as- 
sures you  that  it  is  sinking  to  the  dust:  every  pain  you 
feel,  should  put  you  in  mind,  that  the  pains  of  death  are 
ready  to  seize  you  :  you  are  tottering  upon  the  very  bor- 
ders of  the  grave,  and  will  you  venture  to  drop  in  before 
your  hopes  of  life  and  immortality  are  secured,  and  a  joy- 
ful resurrection  ?  You  pass  perhaps  many  nights,  where- 
in the  infirmities  of  your  flesh  will  not  suffer  you  to  sleep, 
and  to  take  that  common  refreshment  of  nature,  and  shall 
not  these  same  infirmities  keep  you  awake  to  things  spiri- 
tual, and  rouse  all  your  thoughts  and  cares  about  your  im- 
mortal interests  ? 

(2.)  '  You  whose  circumstances  or  employments  of  life, 
expose  you  to  perpetual  dangers  either  by  land  or  by  sea ;' 
you  who  carry  your  lives  as  it  were  in  your  hand,  and  are 
often  in  a  day  within  a  few  inches  of  death  ;  is  it  not  ne- 
cessary for  you  to  inquire  daily,  Am  I  prepared  for  a  de- 
parture hence  ?  Am  I  ready  to  hear  the  summons  of  my 
Lord,  and  ready  to  give  up  my  account  before  him?  Shall 
I  dare  go  on  another  day  with  my  sins  unpardoned,  with 
my  soul  unsanctified,  and  in  immediate  danger  of  eternal 
misery  ?  A  fall  from  a  horse,  or  a  house-top,  may  send 
you  down  to  the  pit  whence  there  is  no  redemption  ;  eve- 
ry wind  that  blows,  and  every  rising  wave,  may  convey 
you  into  the  eternal  world,  and  are  you  ready  to  meet  the 
great  God  in  such  a  surprise,  and  without  warning  ? 

(3.)  You  who  are  'young  and  vigorous,  and  flourish 
amidst  all  the  gaieties  and  allurements  of  life,'  you  are  in 


SURPRISE    IN   DEATH.  73 

most  danger  of  being  lulled  asleep  in  sin,  and  therefore  I 
addressed  you  lately  in  a  funeral  discourse,  when  the  pre- 
sent providence  gave  each  of  you  a  new  and  loud  call  to 
awake,  and  I  pray  God  you  may  hear  his  voice  in  it. 

(4.)  Perhaps  others  of  you  are  arrived  at  old  age,  and 
the  course  of  nature  forbids  you  to  expect  a  long  continu- 
ance in  the  land  of  the  living  :  are  any  of  my  hearers  an- 
cient sinners  and  asleep  still  ?  Venturous  and  thoughtless 
creatures !  that  have  grown  old  in  slumber,  and  worn  out 
their  whole  life  in  iniquities  !  Surely  it  is  time  for  you 
to  hear  the  voice  of-the  Son  of  God  in  the  gospel,  and  ac- 
cept of  his  salvation.  Behold  the  Judge  is  at  the  door,  he 
comes  speedily,  and  he  will  not  tarry,  his  herald  of  death 
is  just  at  hand.  Are  you  willing  ne  should  seize  you  in  a 
deadly  sleep,  and  send  you  into  eternal  sorrows  ? 

And  let  aged  Christians  bestir  'themselves,  and  awake 
from  their  slothful  and  secure-  frames  of  spirit ;  let  them 
look  upward  to  the  crown  that  is  not  far  off,  to  the  prize 
that  is  almost  within  reach.  'Whatsoever  your  hand'  or 
heart '  find  to  do'  for  God, '  do  it  with  all  your'  zeal  and 
•might:  let  your  loins  be  girt'  about,  and  your  natural 
powers  active  in  his  service,  'le.t  your  lamp'  of  profession 
be  bright  and  burning,  that  when  Jesus  comes,  ye  may 
receive  him  with  joy. 

("5.)  And  are  there  any  of  you  'that  are  under  decays 
of  grace  and  piety,'  that  are  'labouring  and  wrestling  with 
strong  corruptions,'  or  in  actual  conflict  with  repeated 
temptations  which  too  often  prevail  over  you?  It  becomes 
you  to  hear  the  watch-word  which  Christ  often  gives  to 
his  churches  under  such  circumstances  :  make  haste  and 
awake  unto  holiness,  'be  watchful  and  strengthen  the  things 
that  remain  that  are  ready  to  die ;  hold  fast  what  thou  hast 
received ;  remember  thy  first  affection  and  zeal,  and  repent' 
and  mourn  for  what  thou  hast  lost,  'lest  I  come  upon  thee 
as  a  thief,  and  thou  shalt  not  know  the  hour.''  Remember 
whence  thou  art  fallen,  and  repent, and  do  thy  first  works, 
for  thou  hast  lost  thy  first  love.  Have  a  care  of  danger- 
ous luke-warmness,  and  indifference  in  the  things  of  reli- 
gion. This  is  the  very  temper  of  a  sleepy  declining  Chris- 
tian, while  he  dreams  he  is  rich  and  has  great  attainments. 
Take  heed,  lest  presuming  upon  thy  riches  and  thy  self- 
sufficiency,  thou  'shouldest  be  found  '  wretched  and  mise- 
rable, and  poor,  and  blind,  and  naked.'  Keep  your  souls 
10  G 


74  SURPRISE    IN   DEATH. 

awake  hourly,  and  be  upon  your  guard  against  every  ad- 
versary, and  every  defilement,  lest  ye  be  seized  away  in 
the  commission  of  some  sin,  or  in  the  compliance  with 
some  foul  temptation.'  The  drowsy  soldier  is  liable  to  be 
led  captive,  and  to  die  in  fetters,  and  groan  heavily  in  death. 
But  <  blessed  is  the  watchful'  Christian  ;  he  shall  be  found 
amongst  the  overcomers,  and  shall  partake  of  the  rich  va- 
riety of  divine  favours,  which  are  contained  in  the  epistles 
to  the  seven  churches.  Rev.  ii.  and  iii. 

Though  the  greatest  part  of  a  former  discourse,  has  been 
describing.the  blessedness  of  a  watchful  Christian  at  the 
hour  of  death,  and  in  this  I  have  set  before  you  the  sad 
consequences  that  attend  sleepers  (both  which  are  power- 
ful preservatives  against  drowsiness,)  yet  at  the  conclusion 
of  this  sermon,  give  me  leave  to  add  a  few  more  motives 
to  the  duty  of  watchfulness,  for  we  cannot  be  too  well 
guarded  against  the  danger  of  spiritual  sloth  and  security. 

Motive  1.  '  Our  natures  at  best  in  the  present  state  are 
too  much  inclined  to  slumber.'  We  are  too  ready  to  fall 
asleep  hourly  :  all  the  saints  on  earth,  even  the  most  live- 
ly and  active  of  them,  are  not  out  of  danger,  while  they 
carry  this  flesh  and  blood  about  them.  Indeed  the  best 
of  Christians  here  below  dwell  but  as  it  were  in  twilight, 
and  in  some  sense  they  may  be  described  as  persons  be- 
tween sleeping  and  waking,  in  comparison  of  the  world  of 
spirits.  We  behold  divine  things  here  but  darkly,  and 
exert  our  spiritual  faculties  but  in  a  feeble  manner  :  it  is 
only  in  the  other  world,  that  we  are  broad  awake,  and  in 
the  perfect  and  unrestrained  exercise  of  our  vital  powers ; 
there  only  the  complete  life  and  vigour  of  a  saint  appears. 
In  such  a  drowsy  state  then,  and  in  this  dusky  hoar,  we 
cannot  be  too  diligent  in  rousing  ourselves,  lest  we  sink 
down  into  dangerous  slumbers.  Besides,  if  we  profess  to 
be  'children  of  the  light  and  of  the  day,'  and  growing  up 
to  a  brighter  immortality,  '  let  us  not  sleep  as  others  do* 
who  are  the  sons  and  daughters  of  night  and  darkness. 
1  Thess.  v.  4,  5. 

Motive  2.  'Almost,  every  thing  around  us  in  this  world 
of  sense  and  sin,  tends  to  lull  us  asleep  again,  as  soon  as 
we  begin  to  be  awake.'  The  busy  or  the  pleasant  scenes 
of'this  temporal  life  are  ever  calling  away  our  thoughts 
from  eternal  things,  they  conceal  from  us  the  spiritual 
world,  and  close  our  eyes  to  God,  and  things  divine  and 


SURPRISE    IN   DEATH,  75 

heavenly.  If  the  eye  of.  the  soul  were  but  open  to  invisi- 
ble things,  what  lively  Christians  should  we  be  ?  But 
either  the  winds  of  worldly  cares  rock  us  to  sleep,  or  the 
charm  of  worldly  pleasures  soothe  us  into  deceitful  slum- 
bers. We  are  too  ready  to  indulge  earthly  delights,  and 
while  we  dream  of  pleasure  in  the  creatures,  we  lose,  or 
at  least,  abate  our  delights  in  God.  Even  the  lawful  sat- 
isfactions of  flesh  and  sense,  and  the  enticing  objects  round 
about  us,  may  attach  our  hearts  so  fast  to  them,  as  to  draw 
us  down  into  a  bed  oF  carnal  ease,  till  we  fall  asleep  in 
spiritual  security,  and  forget  that  we  are  made  for  heaven, 
and  that,  our  hope  and  our  home  is  on  high. 

Motive  3.  '  Many  thousands  have  been  found  sleeping 
at  the  call  of  Christ.'  Some  perhaps  in  a  profound  and 
deadly  sleep,  and  others  in  an  hour  of  dangerous  slumber. 
Many  an  acquaintance  of  ours  has  gone  down  to  the  grave, 
when  neither  they  nor  we  thought  of  their  dying  at  such 
a  season.  But  as  thoughtless  as  they  were,  they  were 
never  the  further  from  the  point  of  death  ;  and  we  shud- 
der with  horror  when  we  think  what  is  become  of  their 
souls. 

While  we  are  young,  we  are  ready  to  please  ourselves 
with  the  enjoyments  of  life,  and  flatter  our  hopes  with  a 
long  succession  of  them.  We  suppose  death  to  be  at  the 
distance  '  of  fifty  or  threescore  miles  ;'  threescore  years 
and  ten  is  the  appointed  period.  But  alas  !  how  few  are 
there  whose  hopes  are  fulfilled,  or  whose  life  is  extended 
to  those  dimensions  ?  Perhaps  the  messenger  of  death  is 
within  a  furlong  of  our  dwelling  ;  a  few  more  steps  on- 
ward, and  he  smites  us  down  to  the  dust. 

There  are  some  beautiful  verses  which  I  have  read  per- 
haps thirty  years  ago,  wherein  the  ingenious  author  de- 
scribes the  different  stages  of  human  life,  under  the  image 
of  a  fair  prospect  or  landscape,  and  death  is  placed  by  mis- 
taken mortals,  afar  off,  beyond  them  all.  Since  the  lines 
return  now  upon  my  remembrance,  I  will  repeat  them  here 
with  some  small  alteration.  They  are  as  follows : 

Life  and  the  scenes  that  round  it  rise, 

Share  in  the  same  uncertainties, 
Yet  still  we  hug  ourselves  with  vain  presage 

Of  future  days,  serene  and  long, 

Of  pleasures  fresh  and  ever  strong, 
An  active  youth,  and  slow  declining  age. 


76  SURPRISE  IN  DEATH. 

Like  a  fair  prospect,  still  jve  make 

Things  future  pleasing  forms  to  take  : 
First  verdant  meads  arise  and  flowery  fields ; 

Cool  grooves  and  shady  copses  here, 

There  brooks  and  winding  streams  appear, 
While  change  of  objects  still  new  pleasures  yields. 

Farther,  fine  castles  court  the  eye, 

There  wealth  and  honours  we  espy  • 
Beyond,  a  huddled  mixture  fills  the  stage, 

Till  the  remoter  distance  shrouds 

The  plains  with  hills,  those  hiMs  with  clouds ;     .  *  . 
There  we  place  death  behind  old  shivering  age. 

When  death  alas,  perhaps  too  nigh, 

In  the  next  hedge  doth  skulking' lie, 
There  plants  his  engines,  thence  lets  fly  his  dart , 

Which  while  we  ramble  without  fear, 

Will  stop  us  in  our  full  career ; 
And  force  us  from  our  airy  dreams  to  part. 

How  fond  and  vain  are  our  imaginations,  when  we  have 
seen  others  called  away  on  a  sadden  from  the  early  scenes 
of  life,  to  promise  ourselves  a  long  continuance  here  !  We 
have  the  same  feeble  bodies,  the  same  tabernacles  of  clay, 
that  others  have,  and  we  are  liable  to  many  of  the  same 
accidents  or  casualties :  the  same  killing  diseases  are  at 
work  in  our  natures,  and  why  should  we  imagine,  or  pre- 
sume, that  others  should  go  so  much  before  us  ? 

And  if  we  enquire  of  ourselves  as  to  character  or  merit, 
or  moral  circumstances  of  any  kind,  and  compare  ourselves 
with  those  that  are  gone  before,  what  foundation  have  we 
to  promise  ourselves  a  longer  continuance  here  ?  Have 
we  not  the  same  sins,  or  greater,  to  provoke  God  ?  Are 
we  more  useful  in  the  world  than  they,  and  do  more  ser- 
vice for  his  name  ?  May  not  God  summon  us  off  the  stage 
of  life  on  a  sudden,  as  well  as  others  ?  What  are  we  bet- 
ter than  they  ?  Are  we  not  as  much  under  the  sovereign 
disposal  of  the  great  God  as  any  of  our  acquaintance  who 
have  been  seized  in  the  flower  and  prime  of  life,  and  called 
away  in  an  unexpected  hour  ?  And  what  power  have  we 
to  resist  the  seizure,  or  what  promise  to  hope  that  God  will 
delay  longer  ?  Let  us  then  no  more  deceive  ourselves  with 
vain  imaginations,  but  each  of  us  awake  and  bestir  ourselves 
as  though  we  were  the  next  persons  to  be  called  away 
from  this  assembly,  and  to  appear  next  before  the  Lord. 

Motive  4.  '  When  we  are  awake,  we  are  not  only  fitter 
for  the  coming  of  our  Lord  to  call  us  away  by  death,  and 


SURPRISE  IN  DEATH.  77 

fitter  for  his  appearance  to  the  great  judgment,  but  we  are 
better  prepared  also  to  attend  him  in  every  call  to  present 
duty,  and  more  ready  to  meet  his  appearance  in  every 
providence.'  It  is  the  Christian  soldier  who  is  ever  awake 
and  on  his  guard,  that  is  only  fit  for  every  sudden  ap- 
pointment to  new  stations  and  services,  he  is  more  pre- 
pared for  any  post  of  danger  or  hazardous  enterprise,  and 
better  furnished  to  sustain  the  roughest  assaults.  We  shall 
be  less  shocked  at  sudden  afflictions  here  on  earth,  if  our 
souls  keep  heaven  in  view,  and  are  ready  winged  for  im- 
mortality. When  we  are  fit  to  die  we  are  fit  to  live  also, 
and  to  (To.  better  service  for  God  in  whichsoever  of  his 
worlds  he  shall  please  to  appoint  our  station.  My  business, 
0  Father,  and  my  ioy,  is  to  do.  thy  will  among  the  sons  of 
mortality,  or  among  the  spirits  of  the  blest  on  high. 

Motive  5.    'Let  us  remember  we  have  slept  too  long 
already  in  days  past,  and  it  is  but  a  little  while  that  we  are 
called  to  watch.'     We  have  worn  away  too  much  of  our  life 
in  sloth  and   drowsiness.     The  '  night  is  far  spent'  with 
many  of  us,  "the  day  is  at  hand  ;  it  is  now  high  time  to 
awake  out  of  sleep,  for  now  is  our  salvation  nearer  than 
when  we  first  believed j"  Rom.    xiii.-  11,   12.     Another 
hour  or  two,  'and  the  night  will  be  at  an  end  with  us  ;'  Je- 
sus the  morning  star  is  just  appearing  ;  what  ?  '  can    we 
not  watch  one  hour  ?'  0  happy  souls  !  that  keep  themselves 
awake  to  God  in  the  midst  of  this  dreaming  world  !  Hap- 
py indeed,  when  our  Lord  shall  call  us  out  of  these  dusky 
regions,  and  we  shall  answer  his  call  with  holy  joy,  and 
spring  upward  to  the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light ! 
Then  all  the  seasons  of  darkness,  and  slumbering,  will  be 
finished  for  ever  ;  there  is  no  need  of  laborious  watchful- 
ness in  that  world,  where  there  is  no  flesh   and  blood  to 
hang  heavy  upon  the  spirit;  but  the  sanctified  powers  of 
the  soul  are  all  life,  and  immortal  vigour.     There  is  '  no 
want  of  tlie  sun-beams'  to  make  their  day-light,  or  to  irradi- 
ate 'that  city  ;  the  glory  of  God  enlightens  it'  with  divine 
splendors,  'and  the  Lamb  is  the  light  thereof.'  •  No  inhab- 
itant can  sleep  urtder  such  a  united  blaze  of  grace  and  glory. 
No  faintings  of  nature,  no  languors  or  weariness  are  found 
in  all  that  vital  climate  ;  every  citizen  is  for  ever  awake 
and  busy  under  the  beams  of  that  glorious  day  ;  zeal,  and 
love,  and  joy,  are  the  springs  of  their  eternal  activity,  and 
1  there  is  no  night  there.' 


DISCOURSE    IV 


CHRIST  ADMIRED  AND  GLORIFIED  IN  HIS  SAINTS. 

2  Er.  THESSAI.  i.  10.  When  he  shall  cotneto  be  glorified  in  his  saints, 
and  admired  in  all  them  that  believe. 

How  mean  and  contemptible  soever  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  might  appear  heretofore  on  earth,  yet  there  is  a  day 
coming  when  he  shall  make  a  glorious  figure  in  the  sight 
of  men  and  angels.  How  little  soever  the  saints  may  be 
esteemed  in  our  day,  and  look  poor  and  despicable  in  an 
ungodly  world,  yet  there  is  an  hour  approaching  when 
they  shall  be  glorious  beyond  all  imagination,  and  Christ 
himself  shall  be  glorified  in  them.  In  that  day  shall  the 
Lord  our  Saviour  be  the  object  of  adoration  and  wonder, 
not  only  among  those  of  the  sons  of  men  that  have  be- 
lieved on  him,  but  befoi^e  all  the  intellectual  creation,. and 
that  upon  the  account  of  his  grace  manifested  in  believers. 

The  natural  enquiry  that  arises  here  is  this,  '  What  par- 
ticular instances  of  the  grace,  of  Christ  in  his  saints,  shall 
be  the  matter  of  our  admiration,  and  his  glory  in  that 
day?' 

To  this  I  shall  propose  an  answer  under  the  following 
particulars. 

First,  It  is  a  matter  of  pleasing  wonder,  <  that  persons  of 
all  characters  should  have  been  united  in  one  faith,  and 
persuaded  to  trust  in  the  same  Saviour,  and  embrace  the 
same  salvation ;'  for  some  of  all  sorts  shall  stand  in  that 
blessed  Assembly.  Then  it  shall  be  a  fruitful  spring  of 
wonder  and  glory,  that  men  of  various  nations  and  ages, 
of  different  tempers,  capacities,  and  interests,  of  contrary 
educations,  and  contrary  prejudices,  should  believe  one 
gospel,  and  trust  in  one  Deliverer,  from  hell  and  death ; 
that  the  sprightly,  the  studious  and  the  stupid,  the  wise  and 
the  foolish,  should  relish  and  rejoice  in  the  same  sublime 
truths,  not  only  concerning  the  true  God,  but  also  concer- 

78 


GLORIFIED  IN  HIS  SAINTS.  79 

ning  Jesus  the  Redeemer  ;  that  the  Barbarian  and  the 
Roman,  the  Greek  and  the  Jew,  should  approve  and  re- 
ceive the  same  doctrines  of  salvation,  that  they  should 
come  into  the  same  sentiments  in  the  matters  of  religion, 
and  live  upon  them  as  their  only  hope. 

Astonishing  spectacle  !  when  the  dark  and  savage  in- 
habitants of  Africa,  and  our  fore-fathers,  the  rugged  and 
warlike  Britons,  from  the  *  ends  of  the  earth/  shall  ap- 
pear in  that  assembly,  .with  some  of 'the  polite  nations 
of  Greece  and  Rome,  and  each  of  them  shall  glory  in 
having  been  taught  to  renounce  the  gods  of  their  ancestors, 
and  the  demons  which  they  once  worshipped,  and  phall 
rejoice  in  Jesus  the  king  of  Israel,  and  in  Jehovah,  the  ev- 
erlasting God. 

The  conversion  -of  the  Gentile  world  to  Christianity,  is 
a  matter  of  glorious  wonder,  and  shall  appear  to  be  so  in 
that  great  day.  That  those  who  had  been  educated  to  be- 
lieve many  gods,  or  no  god  at  all,  should  renounce  athe- 
ism and  idolatry,  and  adore  the  true  God  only  :  and  those 
that  were  taught  to  sacrifice  to  idols,  and  to  atone  for  their 
own  sins  with  the  blood  of  beasts,  should  trust  in  one  sac- 
rifice, and  the  atoning  blood  of  the  Son  of  God.  Here 
shall  stand  a  believing  atheist,  and  there  a  converted  idol- 
ater, as  monuments  of  the  Almighty  power  of  his  grace. 

There  shall  shine  also  in  that  assembly,  here  and  there 
a  prince,  and  a  philosopher,  though  '  not  many  wise,  not 
many  noble,  not  many  mighty  are  called  ;'  and  they  shall 
be  matter  of  wonder  and  glory  ;  that  princes  who  love  no 
control,  should  bow  their,  sceptres  and  their  souls,  to  the 
royality  and  godhead  of  the  poor  man  of  Nazareth  ;  that 
the  heat  hen  philosophers,  who  had  been  used  only  to  yield 
to  reason,  should  submit  their  understandings  to  divine 
reyelationr  even  when  it  has  something  above  the  powers 
and  discoveries  of  reason  in  it. 

It  shall  raise  our  holy  wonder  too.  when  we  shall,  behold 
some  of  the  Jewish  Priests  and  Pharisees,  who  became 
converts  to  the  Christian  faith,  adorning  the  triumph  of 
that  clay.  The  Jewish  Pharisees  who  expected  a  glorious 
temporal  prince  for  their  Messiah,  that  they  should  at  last 
own  the  son  of  a  carpenter  for  their.  Teacher,  their  Saviour 
and  their  king  :  that  they  should  veil  the  pride  of  their 
souls,  and  acknowledge  a  parcel  of  poor  fishermea  for  his 
chief  ministers  of  state,  and  receive  them  as  ambassadors 


80  CHRIST  ADMIRED  AND 

to  the  world.  That  those  who  thought  they  were  righte- 
ous, and  hoasted  in  it,  should  renounce  their  boastings  and 
their  righteousnesses,  and  learn  to  expect  salvation  and  life 
for  themselves,  from  the  death  and  righteousness  of  anoth- 
er :  that  they  who  once  called  the  cross  of  Christ '  folly 
and  weakness,'  should  come  to  see  the  'wisdom  and.  power 
of  God'  in  crucified  man,  and  believe  him  who  hung  up- 
on d  tree  as  an  accursed  creature,  to  be  Emmanuel,  God 
with  us,  'God  manifest  in  the  flesh,*  and  the  Saviour  of 
mankind.  .  . 

Surely  shall  men  and  angels  say  in  that  day,  'these 
were  the  effects  of  ah  Almighty  power,  it  was  the  work 
of  God  the  Saviour,  and  it  is  marvellous  in  our  eyes.'  With 
united  voice  shall  all  the  saints  confess,  "flesh  and  blood 
has  not  revealed  this  unto  us,  but  the  spirit  of  our  Dord 
Jesus  Christ,  and  of  God  the  Father.  We  had  perished 
in  our  folly,  but  Christ  has  been  made  wisdom  to  us ; 
we  were  in  darkness  and  lay  under  the  shadow  of  death, 
but  Christ  has  given  us  light"  1  Cor.  i.  30.  Ephes.  v.  14. 

Come,  all  ye  saints  of  these  latter  ages  upon  whom 
the  end  of  the  world  is  come,  raise  your  heads  with  me 
and  look  far  backwards,  even  to  the  beginning  of  time 
and  the  days  of  Adam  ;  for  the  believers'  of  all  ages,  as 
well  as  of  all  nations  shall  appear  together  in  that  day, 
and  acknowledge  Jesus  the  Saviour.  According  to  the 
brighter  or  darker  discoveries  of  the  age  in  which  they 
lived,  he  has  been  the  common  object  of  their  faith.  Ev- 
er since  he  was  called  the  'seed  of  the  woman,'  till  the 
time  of  his  appearance  in.  the  flesh,  all  the  chosen  of  God 
have  lived  upon  his  grace  thou-gh  multitudes  of  them  ne- 
ver knew  his  name.  It  is  true  the  greater  part  of  that 
illustrious  company  on  the  right  hand  of  Christ,  lived 
since  the  time  of  his  incarnation,  (for  the  "great  multi- 
tude which  no  man  could  number,  is  derived  from  the 
Gentile  'nations,"  Rev.  vii.  9.)  Yet  the  ancient  patri- 
archs, with  the  Jewish  prophets  and  saints,  shall  make 
a  splendid  appearance  there :  'one  hundred  and  forty -four 
thousand  are  sealed  among  the  tribes  of  Israel.  These 
of  old  embraced  the  gospel  in  types  and  shadows  ;  but 
now  their  eyes'  behold  .Christ  Jesus,  the  substance  and  the 
truth.  In  the  days  of  their  flesh  they  read  his  name  in 
dark  lines  and  looked  through  the  long  glass  of  prophecy 
to  distant  ages,  and  a  Saviour  to  cdme,  and  now  behold 


GLORIFIED  IN  HIS  SAINTS.  81 

they  find  complete  and  certain  salvation  and  glory  in  him. 
"These  all  diad  in  faith,  not  having  received  the  promis- 
es, but  having  seen  them  afar  off,  and  were  persuaded 
of  them,  and  embraced  them."  Heb.  xi.'  13.  They  died 
in  -the  hope  of  this  salvation,  and  they  shall  arise  in  the 
blessed  possession  of  it. 

Behold  Abraham  appearing  there,  the  Father  of  the  faith- 
ful, who  '  saw  the  day  of  Christ,'  and  rejoiced  to  see  it, 
who  trusted  in  his  §on  Jesus  two  thousand  years  before 
he  was  born.  His  elder  family  the  pious  Jews  surround 
him  there,  and  we  his  younger  children  among  the  Gen- 
tiles, shall  stand  with  him  as  thje  followers  of  his  faith, 
who  trust  in  the  same  Jesus  almost  two  thousand  years 
after  he  is  dead.  How  shall  we  both  *  rejoice  to  see  this 
brightest  day'  of  the  Son  of  man,  and  congratulate  each 
other's  faith,  while  our  eyes  meet  and  centre  in  him,  and 
our  souls  triumph  in  the  sight  and  love,  and  enjoyment  of 
him  in  whom  we  believed  !  How  admirable  and  divinely 
glorious  shall  our  Lord  himself  appear,  on  whom  every 
eye  is  fixed  with  unutterable  delight,  in  whom  the  faith 
of  distant  countries  and  ages  is  centred  and  reconciled,  and 
in  whom  *  all  the  nations  nf  tho  earth'  appear  to  be  '  bles- 
se'd,'  according  to  the  ancient  word  of  promise.  Gen.  xv. 
and  xvii. 

Secondly,  It  is  a  further  occasion  of  pleasing  wonder, 
( that  so  many  wicked  obstinate  wills  of  men,  and  so  ma- 
ny perverse  affections,  should  be  bowed  down,  and  submit 
themselves  to  the  holy  rules  of  the  gospel.'  This  is  ano- 
ther instance  of  the  grace  of  Christ,  and  shall  be  the  sub- 
ject of  our  joyful  admiration.  Every  son  and  daughter  of 
Adam  by  nature  is  averse  to  God,  and  inclined  to  sin,  a 
child  of  disobedience  and  death.  Eph.  ii.  2.  There  is  a 
new  miracle  wrought  by  Christ  in  every  instance  of  con- 
verting grace,  and  he  shall  have  the  glory  of  them  all  in 
that  day.  It  is  a  •first  resurrection  from  the  dead,  it  is  a 
new  creation,  and  the  Almighty  power  shall  then  be  pub- 
licly adored;  * 

Then  one  shall  say,  <  I  was  a  sensual  sinner,  drenched 
in  liquor  and  unclean  lusts,  and  wicked  in  all  the  forms  of 
lewdness  and  intemperance  :  "the  grace  of  God  my  Sav- 
iour appeared  to  me,  and  taught  me  to  deny  worldly  lusts," 
which  I  once  thought  I  could  never  have  parted  with.  I 
loved  my  sins  as  my  life,  but  he  has  persuaded  and  con- 
11 


82  CHRIST  ADMIRED  AKD 

strained  me  to  cut  off  a  right  hand,  and  to  pluck  out  aright 
eye,  and  to  part  with  my  darling  vices  ;  .and  behold  me 
here  a  monument  of  his  saving  mercy.' 

'I  was  envious  against  my  neighbour,  (shall  another 
say,)  and  my  temper  was  malice  and  wrath  ;  revenge 
was. mingled  with  my  constitution,  and  I  thought  it  no  in- 
iquity. But  I  bless  the  name  of  Christ  my  Redeemer, 
who  in  the  day  of  his1  grace  turned  my  wrath  into  meek- 
ness ;  he  inclined  me  to  love  even  mine  enemies,  and  to 
pray  for  them  that  cursed  me  ;  he  taught  me  all  this  by 
his  own  example,  and  he  made  me  learn  it  by  the  sovereign 
influences  of  his  Spirit.  I  am  a  wonder  to  myself,  when 
I  think  of  what  once  I  was.  Amazing  change  and  al- 
mighty grace  !'  . 

Then  a  third  shall  confess,  '  I  was  a  profane  wretch,  a 
swearer,  a  blasphemer ;  I  hoped  for  no  heaven,  and  I 
feared  no  hell ;  but  the  Lord  seized  me  in  the  midst  of 
my  rebellions,  and  sent  his  arrows  into  my  soul  ;  he  made 
me  feel  the  stings  of  an  awakened  conscience,  and  con- 
strained me  to  believe  there  was  a  God  and  a  hell,  till  I  cried 
out  astonished,  what  shall  I  do  to  be  saved .?  Then  he 
led  me  to  partake  of  his  own  salvation,  and  from  a  proud 
rebellious  infidel,  he  has  made  me  a  penitent  arid  a  huirible 
believer  ;  and  here  I  stand  to  shew  forth  the  wonders  of 
his  grace,  and  the  boundless  extent  of  his  forgiveness. ' 

A  fourth  shall  stand  up  and  acknowledge  in  that  day, 
'  And  I  was  a  poor  carnal  covetous  creature,  who  made 
this  world  my  god,  and  abundance  of  money  was. my  hea- 
ven ;  but  he  cured  me  of  this  vile  idolatry  of  gold,  taught 
me  how  to  obtain  treasures  in  the  heavenly  world,  and  to 
forsake  all  on  earth,  that  I  might  have  an  inheritance  there  ; 
and  behold  he  has  not  disappointed  my  hope  :  I  am  now 
made  rich  indeed,  and  I  must  forever  speak  his  praises.' 

There  shall  be  no  doubt  or  dispute  in  that  day,  whether 
it  was  the  power  of  our  own  will,  or  the  superior  power 
of  divine  grace,  that  wrought  the  blessed  change,  that 
turned  a  lion  into  a  lamb,  a  grovelling  earth-worm  into  a 
bird  of  paradise,  and  of  a  co.vetous  or  malicious  sinner, 
made  a  meek  and  a  heavenly  saint.  The  grace  of  Christ 
shall  be  so  conspicuous  in  every  glorified  believer  in  that 
assembly,  that  with  one  voice  they  shall  all  shout  to  the 
praise  and  glory  of  his  grace  ;  "  Not  to  us,  0  Lord,  not  to 
us,  but  to  thy  name  be  all  the  honour."  Psal.  cxv.  1. 


GLORIFIED  IN  HIS  SAINTS  83 

Thirdly,  It  shall  be  the  matter  of  our  wonder,  and  the 
glory  of  Christ  in  that  day,  'that  so  many  thousand  guilty 
wretches  should  be  made  righteous  by  one  righteousness, 
cleansed  in  one  laver  from  all  their  iniquities,  and  sprin- 
kled unto  pardon  and  sanctification,  wkh  the  blood  of  one 
man,  Jesus  Christ.'  See  the  "  great  multitude  that  no  man 
can  number,"  JRev.  vii.  9.  10.  They  all  "washed  their 
robes,  and  made  them  white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb," 
ver.  14. 

It  is  a  matter  of  wonder  to  us  now  on  earth,  that  the 
blessed  Son  of  God  who  is  one  with  the  Father,  should 
stoop  so  low  as  to  unite  himself  to  a  mortal  nature,  that  he 
should  become  a  poor  despicable  man,  and  pass  through  a 
life  of  sufferings  and  sorrows,  and  die  an  accursed  death, 
to  redeem  us  from  guilt  and  deserved  misery.  But  when 
we  shall  see  him  in  his  native  glory  and  lustre,  his  acquir- 
ed dignities,  and  all  the  honours  of  heaven  heaped  upon 
him,  it  will  raise  our  wonder  high,  to  think  that  such  a 
One  should  once  humble  himself  to  the  death  of  the  cross, 
the  death  of  the  vilest  slave,  that  he  might  save  our  souls 
from  dying  ;  that  he  should  pour  out  his  own  blood  to 
wash  off  the  stains  of  millions  of  sins,  that  we  might  ap- 
pear righteous  before  a  God  of  holiness.  Then  shall  the 
multitude  of  the  saved  join  in  that  song,  "-To  him  that 
loved  us,  and  washed  us  from  our  sins  in  his  own  blood, 
be  glory  and  dominion  for  ever."  Rev.  i.  5,  6.  "  Wor- 
thy is  the  Lan:b  that  was  slain  to  receive  power,  and  rich- 
es, and  honour,  for  thou  hast  redeemed  us  with  thy  blood 
from  every  kindred,  tribe  and  nation."  Rev.  v. 

Then  shall  those  blessed  words  of  Scripture  appear  and 
shine  in  full  glory,  howsoever  they  are  often  passed  over 
in  silence,  and  too  much  forgotten  in  our  age,  Rom.  v.  17, 
19,  21.  "If  by  one  man's  offence  death  reigned  by  one  ; 
much  more  they  which  receive  abundance  of  grace,  and 
of  the  gift  of  righteousness,  shall  reign  in  life  by  one,  Je- 
sus Christ.  For  as  by  one  man's  disobedience  many  were 
made  sinners,  so  by  the  obedience  of  one  shall  many  be 
made  righteous.  That  as  sin  hath  reigned  unto  death, 
even  so  might -grace  reign  through  righteousness  unto 
eternal  life,  by  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord."  Then  shall  our 
blessed  Lord  shine  in  the  complete  lustre  of  that  incom- 
municable name,  JEHOVAH  TZIDKENU,  the  Lord  our 
righteousness.  Jer.  xxiii.  6. 


84  CHRIST  ADMIRED  AND 

And  not  only  the  atonement  and  salvation  itself,  shall 
be  the  subject  of  our  glorious  admiration,  but  the  'way 
and  manner'  how  sinners  partake  of  it,  shall  minister  fur- 
ther to  our  wonder,  and  to  the  glory  of  Christ.  That  such 
a  world  of  poor  miserable  creatures  should  be  saved  from 
hell,  by  believing  or  trusting  in  grace,  when  they  could 
never  be  saved  by  all  their  own  works  ;  that  they  should 
obtain  righteousness  and  acceptance  unto  eternal  life,  by  a 
humble  penitence  and  poverty  of  spirit,  depending  on  the 
death  and  righteousness  of  another,  when  all  their  labours 
and  toil  in  works  of  the  law,,  could  not  make  up  a  righte- 
ousness of  their  own,  sufficient  to  appear  before  the  justice 
of  God  ;  Christ  will  not  only  be  glorified  in  their  holiness 
as  saints,  but  admired  and  honoured  in  and  by  their  faith 
as  believers.  His  blood  and  his  grace  shall  share  all  the 
glory.  "  Therefore  it  is  of  faith,"  and  not  of  works,  "that 
it  might  be  of  grace,"  Rom.  iv.  15.  Yet  this  saving  faith 
is  the  -spring  of  shining  holiness  in  every  believer.  Duties 
and  virtues  are  not  left  out  of  our  religion,  when  faith  is 
brought  into  it.  The  graces  of  the  saints  join  happily 
with  the  atonement  of  Christ,  to  render  that  day  more 
illustrious. 

Fourthly,  ( That  a  company  of  such  feeble  Christians, 
should  maintain  their  course  towards  heaven,  through  so 
many  thousand  obstacles  :'  this  shall  be  another  subject  of 
admiration,  and  yield  a  further  revenue  of  glory  to  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  for  he  who  is  their  righteousness  is  their 
strength  also.  Isa.  xlv.  24,  25.  "In  the  Lord  shall  all 
the  seed  of  Israel  glory"  in  that  day,  as  their  strength  and 
their  salvation.  They  have  broke  through  all  their  diffi- 
culties, and  were  "  able  to .  do  all  things  through  Christ 
strengthening  them."  Phil.  iv.  13. 

Behold  that  noble  army  with  palms  in  their  hands  ;  once 
they  were  weak  warriors,  yet  they  overcame  mighty  ene- 
mies, and  have  gained  the  victory  and  the  prize  ;  enemies 
rising  from  earth,  and  from  hell,  to  tempt  and  to  accuse 
them,  but  "  they  overcame  by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb," 
Rev.  xii.  7,  11.  What  a  divine  honour  shall  it  be  to  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Captain  of  our  salvation,  that  weak 
Christians  should  subdue  their  strong  corruptions,  and  get 
safe  to  heaven  through  a  thousand  oppositions  within  and 
without  ?  It  is  all  bwing  to  the  grace  of  Christ,  that  there 
is  grace  which  is  all-sufficient  for  every  saint,  2  Cor.  xii.  9. 


GLORIFIED  IN  HIS  SAINTS.  85 

They  are  "  made  more  than  conquerors  through  him  that 
has  loved  them,"  Rom.  via.  38. 

Then  shall  the  faith,  and  courage,  and  patience  of  the 
saints,  have  a  blessed  review  ;  and  it  shall  be  told  before 
the  whole  creation  what  strife  and  wrestlings  a  poor  be- 
liever has  passed  through  in  a  dark  cottage,  a  chamber  of 
long  sickness,  or  perhaps  in  a  dungeon  ;  how  he  has  there 
combated  with  powers  of  darkness,  how  he  has  struggled 
with  huge  sorrows,  and  'has- borne  and  has  not  fainted,' 
though  he  has  been  often  '  in  heaviness  through  manifold 
temptations.'  Then  shall  appear  the  bright  scene  which 
St.  Peter  represents  as  the  event  of  sore  trials,  1  Pet.  j.  6, 
7.  When  our  '  faith  has  been  tried  in  the  fire'  of  tribula- 
tion, and  is  found  '  more  precious  than  gold,'  it  shall  shine 
to  the  '  praise,  honour,  and  glory,'  of  the  suffering  saints, 
and  of  Christ  himself  '  at  his  appearance.' 

Behold  that  illustrious  troop  of  martyrs,  <md  some 
among  them  of  the  feeblest  sex  and  of  tender  age  ;  now, 
that  women  should  grow  bold  in  faith,  even  in  the  sight  of 
torments,  and  children,  with  a  manly  courage,  should  profess 
the  name  of  Christ  in  the  face  of  angry  and  threatening 
rulers  ;  that  some  of  these  should  become  undaunted  con- 
fessors of  the  truth,  and  others  triumph  in  fire  and  torture  ; 
these  things  shall  be  matter  of  glory  to  Christ  in  that  day ; 
it  was  his  power  that  gave  them  courage  and  victory  in 
martyrdom  and  death.  Every  Christian  there,  every  sol- 
dier in  that  triumphing  army,  shall  ascribe  his  conquest  to 
the  grace  of  his  Lord',  his  Leader,  and  lay  down  all  their 
trophies  at  the  feet  of  his  Saviour,  with  humble  acknowl- 
edgments and  shouts  of  honour. 

Almost  all  the  saved  number  were,  at  some  part  of  their 
lives,  weak  in  faith,  and  yet,  by  the  grace  of  Christ, 
they  held  out  to  the  end,  and  are  crowned.  '  I  was  a  poor 
trembling  creature,'  shall  one  say, '  but  I  was  confirmed  in 
my  faith  and  holiness  by  the  gospel  of  Christ ;  or  I  rested 
on  a  naked  promise  and  found  support,  because  Christ  was 
there,  and  he  shall  have  the  glory  of  it.'  In  him  are  all 
the  promises  yea,  and  in  him  Amen,  to  the  glory  of  the 
Father,"  2  Cor.  i.  20,  21,  22.  And  the  Son  shall  share  in 
this  glory,  for  he  died  to  ratify  these  promises,  and  he  lives 
to  fulfil  them. 

<0h  what  an  almighty  arm  is  this  (shall  the  believer  say) 
that  has  borne  up  so  many  thousands  of  poor  sinking  crea- 

H 


86  CHRIST  ADMIRED  AND 

tures,  and  lifted  their  heads  above  the  waves  !'  The  spark 
of  grace  that  lived  many  years  in  a  flood  of  temptations,  and 
was  not  quenched,  shall  then  shinfc  bright,  to  the  glory  of 
Christ  who  kindled  and  maintained  it.  When  we  have 
been  brought  through  all  the  storms  and  threatening  seas, 
and  yet  the  raging  waves  have  been  forftid  to  swallow  us 
up,  we  shall  cry  out  in  raptures  of  joy  and  wonder,  "What 
manner  of  man  is  this,  that  the  winds  and  the  seas  have 
obeyed  him  ?" 

Then  shall  it  be  gloriously  evident,  that  he  has  conquered 
Satan,  and  kept  the  hosts  of  hell  in  chains,  when  it  shall 
appear  that  he  has  made  poor,  mean,  trembling  believers, 
victorious  over  all  the  powers  of  darkness  ;  for  the  Prince 
of  'peace  has  bruised  him  under  their  feet.' 

Fifthly,  There  is  more  work  for  our  wonder  and  joy, 
and  more  glory  for  our  blessed  Lord,  when  we  shajl  see 
'  that  'so  many  dark  and  dreadful  providences  were  working 
together  in  mercy,  for  the  good  of  the  saints  ;'  it  is  because 
Jesus  Christ  had  the  management  of  them  all  put  in  hjs 
hand  ;  and  we  shall  acknowledge  "  he  has  done  all  things 
well."  Rom.  viii.  28,  "  All  things  have  wrought  together 
for  good."  It  is  the  voice  of  Christ  to  every  saint  in  sor- 
row, "  what  I  do  thou  knowest  not  now,  but  thou  shalt 
know  hereafter,"  John  xii.  7.  I  saw  not  then,  saith  the 
Christian,  that  my  Lord  was  curing  my  pride,  by  such  a 
threatening  and  abasing  providence,  that  he  was  weaning 
my  heart  from  sensual  delight,  by  such  a  sharp  and  pain- 
ful wound ;  but  now  I  behold  things  in  another  light,  and 
give  thanks  and  praises  to  my  divine  Physician. 

We  shall  look  back  upon  the  hours  of  our  impatience, 
and  be  ashamed ;  we  shall  chicle  the  flesh  for  its  old  re- 
pinings,  when  we  shall  stand  upon  the  eternal  hills  of  para- 
dise, and  cast  our  eyes  back  upon  yonder  transactions  of 
time,  those  past  ages  of  complaint  and  infirmity.  We  shall 
then,  with  pleasure  and  thankfulness,  confess,  that  the 
captain  of  our  salvation  was  much  in  the  right  to  lead  us 
through  so  many  sufferings  and  sorrows,  and  we  were  much 
•it  the  wrong  to  complain  of  his  conduct: 

Bear  up  your  spirits  then,  ye  poor  afflicted  distressed 
souls,  who  are  wrestling  through  difficult  providences  all 
in  the  dark.  Bear  up  but  a  little  longer, "  he  that  shall  come, 
will  come,  and  will  not  tarry ;"  he  will  set  all  his  conduct 


GLORIFIED  IN  HIS   SAINTS. 

in  a  fair  light,  and  you  shall  say,  'Blessed  be  the  Lord, 
and  all  his  government." 

Sixthly,  '  That  heaven  should  be  so  well  filled  out  of 
such  a  hell  of  sin  and  misery  as  this  world  is,'  shall  be  an- 
other delightful.reflection  full  of  wonder  and  glory.  Take 
a  short  survey  of  mankind,  how  <  all  flesh  has  corrupted 
its  ways'  before  God,  and  'every  imagination  of  the  thought 
of  man's  heart  is  only  evil,  and  that  continually  ;  there  is 
none  righteous,  no,  not  one.'  Look  round  about  you  and 
see  how  iniquity  abounds,  violence,  oppression,  pride,  lust, 
sensualities  of  all  kinds,  how  they  reign  among  the  children 
of  men.  Religion  is  lost,  and  God  forgotten  in  the  world  ; 
and  yet,  out  of  this  wretched  world,  Christ  has  provided 
inhabitants  for  heaven,  where  'nothing  can  enter  that  de- 
fileth.'  Look  into  your  own  hearts,  ye  sinners,  see  what 
a  hell  lies  there  ;  and  ye  converts  of  the  grace  of  Christ, 
look  into  your  hearts  too,  and  see  how  many  of  the  seeds 
of  wickedness  still  lie  hid  there  ;  how  much  corruption, 
and  how  little  holiness  ;  look  inward,  and  wonder  that 
Christ  should  p.ve.r  fit  you  for  heaven,  by  his  Converting 
and  his  sanctifying  grace. 

Look  round  the  world  again,  and  survey  the  miseries 
of  this  earth  ;  as  many  calamities  as  there  are  creatures, 
and  perhaps  ten  times  more.  Who  is  there  on  earth  with- 
out his  sorrows  ?,  and  sometimes  a  multitude  of  them  meet 
in  one  single  sufferer.  See  how  toil,  and  weariness,  and 
disappointment,  poverty  and  sickness,  pain,  and  anguish, 
and  vexation,  are  distributed  through  this  world,  that  lies 
on  the  borders  of  hell  ;  see  all  this,  and  wonder  at  the 
grace  of  Christ,  that  has  taken  a  colony  out  of  this  misera- 
ble world,  and  made  a  heaven  of  it. 

We  shall,  many  of  us,  be  a  wonder  to  each  other  as  well 
as  to  ourselves,  and  we  shall  all  review  and  admire  the 
grace  of  Christ  in  and  towards  us  all.  Among  the  rest, 
there  are  two  sorts  of  Christians  whose  salvation  shall  be 
a  special  matter  of  wonder,  and  these  are  the  melancholy 
and  the  uncharitable.*  The  melancholy  Christian  shall 

*  The  word  is  not  used  here  by  our  author,  in  the  full  extent  of  its  mean- 
ing.  The  uncharitable  would  be  as  much  out  of  place  in  heaven,  as  the 
sanctified  wduld  be  in  hell.  Yet  compared  to  what  he  ought  to  be,  a  truly 
pious  man,  through  rashness  and  mistake,  may  be  uncharitable  in  particular 
instances ;  and  owing  to  difference  of  temperament,  knowledge,  piety,  or 
habit,  pious  men  are  sometimes  uncharitable  to  a  blamable  extent,  not  only 


38 


CHRIST  ADMIRED  AND 


wonder  that  ever  such  a  sinner  as  himself  was  brought  to 
heaven  ;  and  the  uncharitable  shall  wonder  how  such  a 
sinner  as  his  neighbour  came  there.  The  poor  doubting 
melancholy  soul,  who  was  full  of  fears  lest  he  should  be 
condemned,  shall  then  have  full  assurance  that  he  is  elect- 
ed and  redeemed,  pardoned  and  saved,  when  he  sees,  heais 
and  feels,  the  salvation  and  the  glory  upon  him,  within 
him,  and  all  around  him,  and  he  shall  admire  and  adore 
the  grace  of  God  his  Saviour.  The  narrow-souled  Chris- 
tian, who  said  his  neighbour  would  be  damned  for  want 
of  some  party  notions,  or 'for  some  lesser  failings,  shall 
confess  his  uncharitable  mistake,  and  shall  wonder  at  the 
abounding  mercy  of  Christ,  which  has  pardoned  those  er- 
rors in  his  neighbour,  for  which  he  had  excommunicated 
and  condemned  him.  Both  these  Christians  in  that  day, 
I  mean,  the  timorous  and  the  censorious,  shall  stand  at 
his  right  hand,  as  monuments  of  his  surprising  grace,  who 
forgave  one  the  defects  of  his  faith,  and  the  other  his  want 
of  love  ;  and  their  souls  and  their  tongues  shall  join  toge- 
ther to  rejoice  in  the  Lord,  and  their  spirits  shall  magnify 
their  God  and  Redeemer.  Christ  shall  have  "his  due  reve- 
nue of  glory  from  both,  in  the  hour  of  their  public  sal- 
vation. 

0  what  honour  shall  it  add  to  the  overflowing  mercy  of 
Christ,  what  joy  and  wonder  to  all  the  saints,  to  see  Paul 
the  persecutor  and  blasphemer  there,  and  Peter  who  de- 
nied the  Lord  that  bought  him,  and  Mary  Magdalene  that 
impure  sinner  !*  See  what  afoul  and  shameful  catalogue, 
what  children  of  iniquity  are  at  last  made  heirs  and  pos- 
sessors of  heaven,  1  Cor.  vi.  9,  10,  11.  The  fornicators 
and  idolaters,  the  thieves  and  the  covetous,  the  drunkards, 

in  respect  of  what  they  should  be,  but  also  compared  with  others.     It  is  in 
this  comparative  sense  that  the  word  i«  used  as  above. — ED. 

*  Tradition  has  been  exceedingly  unjust  to  the  character  of  Mary  of 
Magdala.  There  is  not  a  vestige  of  proof  in  the  New  Testament,  that  she 
ever  had  been  an  impure  woman.  There  is  evidence  of  the  contrary  in  the 
character  of  her  associates  ;  such  as  Joanna,  the  wife  of  Herod's  steward, 
Susannah,  and  other  women  of  respectable  station,  and  of  the  best  charac- 
ter. "  She  is  spoken  of,"  as  Dr.  Scott  says,  "  rather  as  one  who  had  been 
remarkably  afflicted,  than  peculiarly  -wicked."  She  was  a  wealthy  and 
pious  woman,  who  "  ministered  to  Jesus  of  her  substance,"  not  only  while 
he  was  living,  but  also  brought  spices  to  embalm  him  after  his  death.  She 
was  one  of  those  devoted  women,  who  watched  our  dying  Saviour  during 
the  whole  time  of  his  sufferings  on  mount  Calvary,  saw  him  laid  in  the 
tomb,  and  was  the  first  to  whom  he  was  pleased  to  show  himself  after  he 


GLORIFIED  IN  HIS  SAINTS.  ,          89 

the  revilers,  and  the  extortioners.     Such  they  were  in  the 
days  of  ignorance  and  heathenism,  fit  fuel  for  the  fire  of 
hell ;  and  in  those  circumstances  they  are  utterly  excluded 
1  from  the  kingdom  of  God  ;'  but  now  they  find  a  place 
in  that  blessed  assembly,  and  the  converting  grace  of  Christ 
is  admired  and  glorified,  that  could  turn  such  sinners  into 
saints.     0  surprising  scene  of  rich  salyation,  when  these 
Corinthian  converts,  washed  in  the  blood  of  Christ,  and 
renewed  by  his  Spirit,  shall  appear  in  their  white  garments 
of  holiness  and  glory  !     There  is  not  one  sinful  creature 
to  be  found  in  all  the  vast  retinue  of  the  holy  Jesus.     But 
there  are  thousands  who  have  been  once  great  criminals, 
notorious  sinners,  and  have  been  snatched  by  the  arm  of 
divine  love,  as  '  brands  out  of  the  burning.'     What  an  af- 
fecting sight  will  it  be,  when  we  shall  behold  all  the  mem- 
bers of  Christ  united  to  their  Head, and  complete  in  glory ; 
and  see  at  the  same  time,  a  world  of  vile  sinners  doomed 
to  destruction  !     With  what  admiration  and  wonder  shall 
we  cry  out,  "  and  such  were  some  of  these  happy  ones, 
but  they  are  sanctified,  but  they  are  justified,  in  the  name 
of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  by  the  Spirit  of  our  God,"  ver.ll. 
'  Not  unto  us,  0  Lord,  not  unto  us,  but  to'  God  our  Sav- 
iour be  eternal  honour. 

In  the  seventh  place,  There  is  another  glory  and  won- 
der added  to  this  illustrious  scene,  and  gives  honour  to 
our  blessed  Saviour,  and  that  is,  'that  so  many  vigorous, 
beautiful,  and  immortal  bodies,  should  be  raised  at  once 
out  of  the  dust,  with  all  their  old  infirmities  left  behind 
them.'  Not  one  ache  or  pain,  not  one  weakness  or  dis- 
ease, among  all  the  glorified  millions.  As  the  Israelites 
came  out  of  their  bondage  in  Egypt,  so  shall  the  army  of 
saints  from  the  prison  of  the  grave,  "  and  not  one  feeble 
among  them,"  Psal.  cv.  37.  This  is  the  work  of  Christ 
the  Creator  and  the  Healer. 

rose  from  the  dead.  I  conclude,  therefore,  with  Dr.  Clarke,  "  that  the  com- 
mon opinion  is  a  vile  slander  on  the  character  of  one  of  the  best  women 
mentioned  in  the  Gospel  of  God ;  and  a  reproach  [by  implication]  on  the 
character  and  conduct  of  Christ  and  his  disciples,"  to  whom  a  certain  degree 
of  imprudence  might  justly  be  imputed,  if  a  woman  of  her  supposed  charac- 
ter, however  reformed,  had  been  numbered  among  their  associates.  Far  be 
it  from  us  to  ascribe  imprudence  to  Him  who  is  possessed  of  all  the  treasures 
of  wisdom  ;  and  we  would  also  be  as  far  from  giving  countenance  to  the  as- 
persions which  blundering  tradition  casts  on  the  character  of  any  of  tug 
faithful  followers.— ED. 

12  H  2 


90  CHRIST  ADMIRED  AND 

Here  I  might  run  many  sorrowful  divisions,  and  travel 
over  the  large  and  thorny  field  of  sickness  and  pains  that 
attend  human  nature,  those  inborn  mischiefs  that  vex  poor 
Christians  in  this  state  of  trial  and  suffering.  But  these 
were  all  buried  when  the  body  went  to  the  grave,  and 
they  are  buried  forever  ;  he  that  has  the  keys  of  death, 
shall  let  the  bodies  of  his  saints  out  of  prison  ;  but  no  gout 
nor  stone,  no  infirmity  nor  distemper,  no  head-ache  nor 
heart-ache,  shall  ever  attend  them.  The  body  was  'sown 
in  weakness,  but  it  is  raised  in  power  ;'  it  was  '  sown  in 
dishonour,  it  is  raised  in  glory,'  through  the  power  of  the 
second  Adam,  and  his  quickening  Spirit.  1  Cor.  xv.  43, 
45.  Rom.  viii.  11. 

Then  shall  Christ  appear  to  be  Sovereign  and  Lord  of 
death,  when  such  an  endless  multitude  of  old  and  new 
captives  are  released  at  his  word,  and  the  grave  has  restor- 
ed its  prey  ;  when  those  bodies  which  have  been  turned 
into  dust  some  thousands  of  years,  and  their  atoms  scatter- 
ed abroad  by  the  winds  of  heaven,  shall  be  raised  again  in 
glory  and  dignity,  to  meet  their  descending  Lord  in  the 
air.  Surely  Jesus  in  that  day  shall  be  acknowledged  as  a 
Sovereign  of  nature,  when,  at  the  word  of  his  command, 
a  new  creation  shall  arise,  all  perfect  and  immortal. 

It  will  add  yet  further  glory  to  Christ,  when  we  remem- 
ber what  fruitful  seeds  of  iniquity  were  lodged  in  that  flesh 
and  blood,  which  we  wore  on  earth,  and  which  we  laid 
down  in  the  tomb  ;  and  when,  at  the  same  time,  we  survey 
our  glorified  bodies,  how  spiritual,  how  holy,  how  happily 
fitted  for  the  service  of  glorified  souls  made  perfect  in  ho- 
liness. How  did  all  the  saints  once  complain  of  'a  law  in 
their  members,  that  warred  against'the  law  of  their  minds, 
and  brought  them  into  bondage  to  the  law  of  sin  ?'  But 
this  'law  of  sin'  is  now  for  ever  abolished,  this  'bondage' 
dissolved  and  broken,  and  these  '  members'  all  new-creat- 
ed, for  'instruments'  of  'righteousness'  to  serve  God  in 
his  temple.  Holy  Paul  shall  no  more  '  groan  in  a  sinful 
tabernacle,'  he  shall  no  more  complain  of  that '  flesh  where- 
in no  good  thing  dwelt,'  he  shall  cry  out  no  more,  "  0 
wretched  man  that  I  am,  who  shall  deliver  me  ?" 

Many  and  bitter  have  been  the  sorrows  of  a  holy  soul 
in  this  world,  because  of  the  perverse  dispositions  of  ani- 
mal nature  and  the  flesh.  But  none  of  the  saints  in  that 
assembly  shall  ever  feel  again  the  stings  of  inward  envy> 


GLORIFIED  IN  HIS   SAINTS.  91 

the  pricking  thorns  of  peevishness,  nor  the  wild  ferments 
of '  wrath  and  passion  :'  none  of  them  shall  ever  find  those 
1  unruly  appetites'  which  wrought  so  strongly  in  their  old 
flesh  and  blood,  and  too  often  overpowered  their  unwilling 
souls,  those  appetites  which  brought  their  consciences 
sometimes  under  fresh  guilt,  and  filled  them  with  inward 
reproaches,  and  agonies  of  spirit.  These  evil  principles 
are  all  destroyed  by  death,  they  are  lost  in  the  grave,  and 
shall  have  no  resurrection.  The  new-raised  bodies  of 
the  righteous  in  that  day,  shall  be  completely  obedient  to 
the  dictates  of  their  spirits,  without  .any  vicious  juices  to 
make  reluctance,  or  perverse  humours  to  raise  an  inward 
rebellion.*  And  not  only  so,  but  perhaps  even  our  bodies 
shall  have  some  active  holy  tendencies,  wrought  in  them 
so  far  as  corporeal  nature  can  administer,  towards  the  sacred 
exercises  of  a  glorified  saint  A  sweet  and  blessed  change 
indeed  !  And  Jesus  who  raised  these  bodies  in  this  beauty 
of  holiness,  shall  receive  the  glory  of  .this  divine  work. 

The  last  instance  I  shall  mention,,  wherein  Christ  shall 
be  admired  in  his  saints,  is  this,  'they  shall  appear  in  that 
day,  as  so  many  images  of  his  person,  and  as  so  many 
monuments  of  the  success  of  his  office.' 

Is  the  blessed  Jesus  a  great  Prophet,  and  the  Teacher  of 
his  church  ?  These  are  the  persons  that  have  learnt  his  di- 
vine doctrine,  they  have  '  heard  the  joyful  sound'  of  his 
gospel,  and  the  holy  truths  of  it  are  copied  out  in  their 
hearts.  These  are  the  disciples  of  his  school ;  and  by  his 
word',  and  by  his  Spirit,  they  have  been  taught  to  know 
God  and  their  Saviour,  and  they  have  been  trained  up  in 
the  way  to  eternal  life. 

Is  Jesus  a  great '  High  Priest,  both  of  sacrifice  and  inter- 
cession ?'  Behold  all  these  souls,  an  endless  number,  puri- 

*  "  Vicious  juices,"  and  ''perverse  humours,"  may  be  the  causes  or  ef- 
fects of  bodily  disease  ;  and  disease,  together  with  the  habits  which  some- 
times produce  it,  may  make  "reluctance,"  and  "  raise  inward  rebellion," — 
may  try  the  faith  and  patience  of  God's  people,  and  detect  the  deficiency  and 
feebleness,  of  their  graces,  and  the  strength  of  their  remaining  corruptions. 
But  disease  in  any  part  of  the  material  frame,  is  not  the  cause  of  moral  de- 
linquency. It  is  the  consequence  of  sin,  the  evidence  that  we  "  were  by 
nature  the  children  of  wrath,  even  as  others,"  or,  it  may  be  the  occasion  of 
remaining  depravity  in  some  way  discovering  itself;  but  it  would  be  approx- 
imating too  much  the  confines  of  Gnosticism,  to  admit  the  idea  that  any  of 
the  "juices"  or  "  humours"  of  the  body  are  morally  "vicious"  or  "per- 
Terse," — ED. 


92  CHRIST  ADMIRED  AND 

fied  from  their  defilements  by  the  blood  of  his  cross,  wash- 
ed and  made  white  in  that  blessed  laver,  and  reconciled  to 
God  by  his  atoning  sacrifice.  Behold  the  power  of  his  in- 
tercession, in  securing  millions  from  the  wrath  of  God, 
and  in  procuring  for  them  every  divine  blessing.  He  has 
obtained  for  each  of  them  grace  and  glory. 

Is  Jesus  the  '  Lord  of  all  things,'  and  the  'King  of  his 
church  ?'  Behold  his  subjects  waiting  on  him,  a  numerous 
and  a  loyal  multitude,  who  have  the  laws  of  their  King 
engraven  on  their  souls.  These  are  the  sons  and  daughters 
of  Adam,  whom  he  has  rescued  by  his  power  from  the 
kingdom  of  darkness,  and  the  hands  of  the  devil :  he  has 
guarded  them  from  the  rage  of  their  malicious  adversaries 
in  earth  and  hell,  and  brought  them  safe  through  all  diffi- 
culties, to  behold  the  glories  of  this  day,  and  to  celebrate 
the  honours  of  their  King. 

Is  he  the  '  Captain  of  salvation  ?'  See  what  a  blessed  ar- 
my he  has  listed  under  his  banner  of  love  ;  and  they  have 
followed  him  through  all  the  dangers  of  life  and  time  under 
his  conduct.     These  are  the  'chosen,  the  called,  the  faith- 
ful.'    They  have  sustained  many  a  sharp  conflict,  many  a 
dreadful  battle,  and  they  are  at  last,  ' made  more  than 
conquerors  through  him  that  has  loved  them.'     They  at- 
tribute all  their  victories  to  the  wisdom,  the  goodness,  and 
the  power  of  their  divine  Leader :  and  even  stand  amazed 
at  their  own  success  against  such  mighty  adversaries.     But 
they  fought  under  the  banner,  conduct,  and  influence  of  the 
'Prince  of  life,'  the  King  of  righteousness,  who  is  always 
victorious,  and  has  a  crown  in  his  hand  for  every  conqueror. 
Is  Jesus  the  great  'example  of  his  saints?'  Behold  the 
virtues  and  graces  of  the  Son  of  God,  copied  out  in  all  his 
followers.     '  As  he  was,  so  were  they  in  this  world,  holyr 
harmless  and  undefiled,  and  separate  from  sinners.'     As 
he  now  is,  so  are  they,  glorious  in  holiness,  and  divinely 
beautiful,  while  each  of  them  reflects  the  image  of  their 
blessed  Lord,  and  they  appear  as  wonders  to  all  the  be- 
holding world.     They  'were  unknown'  here  on  earth, 
even  as  '  Christ  himself  was  unknown.'     This  is  the  day 
appointed  to  reveal  their  works  and  their  graces.     Jesus  is 
the  'brightness  of  his  Father's  glory,  and   the   express 
image  of  his  person  ;  and  all  the  Sons  and  daughters  of 
God  shall  then  appear,  as  so  many  pictures  of  the  blessed 
Jesus,  drawn  by  the  finger  of  the  eternal  Spirit 


GLORIFIED  IN  HIS    SAINTS. 


And  not  their  souls  only,  but  their  glorified  bodies  also 
are  framed  in  his  likeness.  What  grace  and  grandeur 
dwells  in  each  countenance  !  'As  thou  art,'  0  blessed  Jesus, 
so  shall  they  be  on  that  day,  '  all  of  them  resembling  the 
children  of  a  king  !'  Vigour  and  health,  beauty  and  immor- 
tality, shine  and  reign  throughout  all  that  blessed  assembly. 
The  adopted  sons  and  daughters  of  God  resemble  the 
original  and  only  begotten  Son.  Christ  will  have  all  his 
brethren  and  -sisters  conformed  unto  his  glories,  that  they 
may  be  known  to  be  his  kindred,  \\^  children  of  his  Father, 
and  that  he  'may  appear  the  first-born  qmong  many  breth- 
ren.' When  the  Son  of  God  breaks  open  the  graves,  he 
forms  the  dust  of  his  saints,  by  the  model  of  his  own  glo- 
rious aspect  and  figure,  "and  changes  their  vile  bodies  into 
the  likeness  of  his  own  glorious  body,  by  that  power 
whereby  he  is  able  to  subdue  all  things  to  himself,"  Phil, 
iii.  91  He  shall  be  admired  as  the  bright  original,  and 
each  of  the  saints  as  a  fair  and  glorious  copy.  The  various 
bftantiPs  that,  are  dispersed  among  all  that  assembly,  are 

;a  'ip  and  unite/I   in  b.'mepif .  <  he  is  the  chiefest  of 
ten    thniKwnrK   nnd   altogether   loVtiyne  1!v/nbe  S™,™1.,01 

firmament  can  paint  his  own  bright  image  at  once,  upon 
a  thousand  reflecting  glasses,  or  mirrors  of  gold.  What 
a  dazzling  lustre  would  arise  from  such  a  scene  of  reflec- 
tions !  But  what  superior  and  inexpressible  glory,  above 
all  the  powers  of  similitude  and  beyond  the  reach  of  com- 
parison, shall  irradiate  the  world  in  that  day,  when  Jesus 
the  Son  of  righteousness  shall  shine  upon  all  his  saints, 
and  find  each  of  them  well  prepared  to  receive  this  lustre, 
and  to  reflect  it  round  the  creation  ;  each  of  them  displaying 
the  image  of  the  original  Son  of  God,  and  confessing  all 
their  virtues  and  graces,  all  their  beauties  and  glories,  both  of 
soul  and  body,  to  be  nothing  else  but  mere  copies  and  deri- 
vations from  Jesus,  the  first  and  fairest  image  of  the  Father  ! 

USE.  The  doctrines  and  the  works  of  divine  grace  are 
full  of  wonder  and  glory.  Such  is  the  person  and  offices 
of  Christ,  such  are  his  holy  and  faithful  followers,  and 
such  eminently  will  be  the  blessed  scene  at  his  appearance. 
In  the  foregoing  part  of  the  discourse,  we  have  briefly 
surveyed  some  of  those  glorious  wonders,  we  now  come 
to  consider  what  use  may  be  made  of  such  a  theme. 

Use  1.  It  gives  us  eminently  these  two  lessons  of  in- 
struction. 


94  CHRIST  ADMIRED  AND 

Lesson  1.  'How  mistaken  is  the  judgment  of  flesh 
and  sense,  in  the  things  that  relate  to  Christ  and  his  saints.' 
The  Son  of  God  himself,  was  abused  and  scorned  by  the 
blind  world,  they  esteemed  him  as  "  one  smitten  of  God 
and  unbeloved,"  and  «  they  saw  no  beauty  nor  comeliness 
in  him,"  Isa.  liii.  23.  He  was  poor  and  despised  all  his 
life,  and  he  was  doomed  to  the  death  of  a  criminal  and  a 
slave.  As  for  the  saints  they  find  no  more  honour  or  es- 
teem among  men  than  th^r  Lord,  they  are  many  times 
called  and  counted  <  tJ*  filth  of  the  world,  and  the  off- 
scouring  of  all  things/  1  Cor.  iv.  13.  This  is  the  judg- 
ment of  flesh  and  sense. 

But  when  the  great  appointed  hour  is  come,  and  Jesus 
shall  return  from  heaven  '  with  a  shout  of  the  arch-angel, 
and  the  trump  of  God/  when  he  shall  call  up  his  saints 
from  their  bods  of  dust  and  darkness,  and  make  the  graves 
resign  those  'prisoners of  hope/  when  they  shall  -ill  gath- 
er together  around  their  Lord,  a  bright,  ami  numerous  ar- 
my, shining  and  reflecting  the  splendours  of  his  pi-pspnce, 

how   will  the  judgment  of  flesh  and  sense  be  •«« 

.    .  i  *    «ini    onaniK  !      i  Is  this  tne 

JI&TI  ffiafwas  loaded  with  scandal,  that  was  buffeted  with 
scorn,  and  scourged  and  crucified  in  the  land  of  Judea  ? 
Is  this  the  person  that  hung  on  the  c.ursed  tree,  and  expi- 
red under  agonies  of  pain  and  sorrow  !  Amazing  sight! 
how  majestic,  how  divine  his  appearance  !  the  Son 
of  God,  and  the  king  of  glory  !  And  are  these  the  men 
that  were  made  the  mockery  of  the  world  ?  that  wander- 
ed about  in  sheep-skins,  and  goat-skins,  in  dens  and 
caves  of  the  earth?  Surprising  appearance!  how  illus- 
trious! how  full  of  glory!'  0  that  such  a  meditation  might 
awaken  us  to  judge  more  by  faith. 

Lesson  2.  The  next  lesson  that  we  may  derive  from 
the  text  is  this,  viz.  '  One  great  design  of  the  day  of 
judgment,  is  to  advance  and  publish  the  glory  of  Christ.' 
He  shall  some  on  purpose  to  '  be  glorified  in  his  saints  / 
the  whole  creation  was  made  by  him  and  for  him  ;  the 
transactions  of  Providence,  grace  and  justice,  are  managed 
for  his  honour  ;  and  the  joyful  and  terrible  affairs  of  the 
day  of  judgment,  are  designed  to  display  the  majesty  and 
the  power  of  Jesus  the  King,  the  wisdom  and  equity  of 
Jesus  the  Judge,  and  the  grace  and  truth  of  Jesus  the 
Saviour.  I  will  grant  indeed  that  the  appointment  of 


GLOHIFIED  IN  HIS  SAINTS*  95 

this  day  is  partly  intended  for  the  glory  of  Christ,  in  the 
'just destruction  of  the  impenitent,'  for  he  wi'l  be  glori- 
fied in  pouring  out  the  vengeance  of  his  Father  upon 
rebellious  sinners.  "  The  Lord  Jesus  shall  be  revealed 
from  heaven  with  his  mighty  angels  in  flaming  fire,  ta- 
king vengeance  on  them  that  know  not  God,  and  obey 
not  the  gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  shall  be 
punished  with  everlasting  destruction  from  the  presence 
of  the  Lord,  and  from  the  glory  of  his  power,"  ver.  7, 
8,  9.  before  my  text.  But  his  sweetest  and  most  valua- 
ble revenue  of  glory  arises  from  among  his  saints. 

If  the  'messengers  of  the  churches'  are  called  '  the  glo- 
ry of  Christ,'  with  all  the  weaknesses,  and  sins,  and  fol- 
lies that  attend  the  best  of  them  here,  as  in  2  Cor.  viii. 
23,  much  more  shall  they  be  in  his  glory  hereafter,  when 
they  shall  have  no. spot  or  blemish  found  upon  them,  and 
when  the  work  of  Christ  upon  their  souls  has  formed  and 
finished  them  in  the  perfect  beauty  of  holiness.  The  saints 
shall  reflect  glory  on  each  other,  and  all  of  them  cast  su- 
preme lustre  on  Christ  their  head.  The  people  shall  be 
the  crown  and  glory  of  the  minister  in  that  day,  and  the 
minister  shall  be  the  joy  and  glory  of  the  people,  and  both 
shall  be  the  crown,  joy  and  glory  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
1  Thes.  ii.  19,  20.  2  Cor.  i..  14.  2  Thes.  i.  12.  He 
shall  appear  high  on  a  throne  in  the  midst  of  that  bright 
assembly  and  say,  '  Father,  th'ese  are  the  sheep  that  thou 
hast  given  me,  in  the  counsels  of  thine  eternal  love  ;  all 
these  have  I  ransomed  from  hell  at  the  price  of  my  own 
blood  ;  these  have  I  rescued  by  my  grace,  from  the  do- 
minion of  sin  and  the  devil ;  I  have  formed  them  unto  ho- 
liness and  fitted  them  for  heaven :  I  have  kept  them  by 
my  power  through  all'  the  dangers  of  their  mortal  state, 
and  have  brought  them  safe  to  thy  celestial  kingdom.  Ml 
thine  are  mine,  and  all  mine  are  thine;  I  teas  glorified 
in  them  on  earth,  John  xvii.  10,  and  they  arc  now  my  ev- 
erlasting crown  and  glory.' 

Then  shall  the  unknown  worlds  that  never  fell,  worlds 
of  angels  and  innocent  creatures,  and  the  world  of  guilty 
devils  and  condemned  rebels,  stand  and  wonder  together 
at  the  recovery  and  salvation  Christ  has  provided  for  the 
fallen  sons  of  Adam.  They  shall  stand  amazed  to  see  the 
millions  of  apostate  creatures,  the  inhabitants  of  this  earth- 
ly globe,  recovered  to  their  duty  and  allegiance  by  the 


96  CHRIST  ADMIRED  AND 

Son  of  God  going  down  to  hell  amongst  them  ;  millions 
of  impure  and  deformed  souls  restored  to  the  divine  im- 
age, and  made  beautiful  as  angels,  by  the  grace  and  spirit 
of  our  Lord  Jesus.  Those  spectators  shall  be  filled  with 
admiration  and  transport,  to  see  such  a  multitude  of  crim- 
inals pardoned  and  justified,  for  the  sake  of  a  rightousness 
which  they  themselves  never  wrought,  and  accepted  as 
righteous  in  the  sight  of  God,  by  a  covenant  of  grace  un- 
known to  other  worlds,  and  by  faith  in  the  great  Media- 
tor. They  shall  wonder  to  see  such  an  innumerable  compa- 
ny of  polluted  wretches,  washed  from  their  sins  in  so  pre- 
cious a  laver  as  the  blood  of  God's  own  Son.  And  he  that 
hung  upon  the  cross  as  a  spectacle  of  wretchedness  at  Jer- 
usalem, shall  entertain  the  superior  and  inferior  worlds 
with  the  sight  of  his  adorable  and  divine  glories,  and  the 
spoils  he  has  brought  from  the  region  of  death  and  hell. 
Thus  to  '  the  principalities  and  powers  in  heavenly  places, 
shall  be  made  known  by  the  church  triumphant,  the  ma- 
nifold wisdom,'  and  the  manifold  grace  of  God  the  Father, 
and  his  Son  Jesus  Christ,  Eph.  iii.  10. 

But  tremble,  0  ye  obstinate  and  impenitent  wretches  ! 
ye  sensual  sinners !  ye  infidels  of  a  Christian  name  and 
nation  !  Christ  will  be  glorified  in  you  one  way  or  anoth- 
er :  if  your  hearts  are  not  bowed  and  melted  to  receive  his 
gospel,  you  shall  be  '  punished  with  everlasting  destruc- 
tion' among  those  that  '  knaw  not  God,  and  obey  not  the 
gospel  of  his  Son.' 

Tremble,  ye  sensual  and  ye  profane  sons  of  iniquity, 
when  ye  remember  this  day,  when  ye  shall  see  the  holy 
souls  that  ye  scorned,  with  crowns  on  their  heads,  and 
palms  in  their  hands,  with  the  shout  of  victory  and  joy  on 
their  tongues,  and  the  God-man  whom  ye  despised,  and 
whose  grace  ye  neglected,  shining  at  the  head  of  that 
bright  assembly. 

Tremble,  ye  infidels,  ye  despisers  of  the  name  of  a  cru- 
cified Christ,  behold  his  cross  is  become  a  throne,  and  his 
crown  of  thorns  a  crown  of  glory.  See  the  man  whom 
ye  have  scorned  and  reproached,  at  the  head  of  millions 
of  angels,  and  adored  by  ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand 
saints,  while  wicked  princes  and  captains,  armies  and  na- 
tions of  sinners,  wait  their  doom  from  his  mouth,  nor  dare 
hope  for  a  word  of  his  mercy.  0  make  haste,  and  come 
and  be  reconciled  to  him,  and  to  God  by  him,  that  ye  may 


GLORIFIED  IN  HIS  SAINTS.  37 

belong  to  that  blessed  assembly,  that  ye  may  bear  a  part 
in  the  triumphs  of  that  day,  and  that  Christ  may  be  glori- 
fied in  your  recovery  from  the  very  borders  of  damnation. 
This  thought  leads  me  to  the  next  use. 
II.  This  discourse  gives  l  rich  encom*agement  to  the 
greatest  sinners  to  hope  for  mercy,  and  to  the  weakest 
saints  to  hope  for  victory  and  salvation.'  Such  sort  of 
subjects  of  the  grace  of  Christ,  shall  yield  him  some  of  the 
brightest  rays  of  glory  at  the  last  day.  Yet,  sinners,  let 
me  charge  you  here  never  to  hope  for  this  happiness  with- 
out solemn  repentance,  and  an  entire  change  of  heart  unto 
holiness ;  for  an  unholy  soul  would  be  a  fearful  blemish 
in  that  assembly,  and  a  disgrace  to  our  Lord  Jesus.  Chris- 
tians, I  would  charge  you  also  never  to  hope  for  the  hap- 
piness of  this  day,  without  battle  and  conquest ;  for  all  the 
members  of  that  assembly  must  be  overcomers  :  but  where 
there  is  a  hearty  desire  and  longing  after  grace  and  salva- 
tion, let  not  the  worst  of  sinners  despair,  nor  the  weakest 
believer  let  go  his  hope,  for  it  is  such  as  you  and  I  are,  in 
whom  Christ  will  be  magnified  in  that  day. 

Believe  this.  0  thou  humbled  and  convinced  sinner  ! 
who  complainest  that  thy  heart  is  hard,  though  thou  would- 
est  fain  repent  and  mourn  ;  who  fearest  that  the  bonds  of 
thy  corruptions  are  so  strong  that  they  shall  never  be  bro- 
ken ;  believe  that  the  sovereign  grace  of  Christ  has  de- 
signed to  exalt  itself  in  the  sanctifi cation  of  such  unholy 
souls  as  thou  art,  and  in  melting  such  hard  hearts  as  thine. 
And  thou  poor  trembling  soul  that  wouldest  fain  trust  in  a 
Saviour,  but  art  afraid,  because  of  the  greatness  of  thy 
guilt,  and  thine  abounding  iniquities,  believe  this,  that 
'  where  sin  has  abounded,  grace  has  much  more  abounded." 
It  is  from  the  bringing  such  sinners  as  thou  art  to  heaven, 
that  the  choicest  revenues  of  glory  shall  arise  to  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  and  thy  acclamations  of  joy  and  honour  to 
the  Saviour,  shall  perhaps  be  loudest  in  that  day,  '  when 
he  shall  come  to  be  glorified  in  his  saints,  and  admired  in 
all  them  that  believe/ 

Read  1  Tim.  i.  13,  14,  15,  and  16,  and  see  there  what 
an  account  the  great  Apostle  gives  of  his  own  conversion  ; 
"  I  was  a  blasphemer,  and  a  persecutor,  and  injurious,  yet 
I  obtained  mercy  ;  and  the  grace  of  our  Lord  was  exceed- 
ing abundant  with  faith,  and  love,  which  is  in  Jesus 
Christ"  Now  I  am  sent  to  publish  and  preach  to  blas- 
13  I 


38  CHRIST  ADMIRED  AND 

phemers  and  persecutors,  that  "  this  is  a  faithful  saying, 
and  worthy  of  all  acceptation,  that  Christ  Jesus  came  intd 
the  world  to  save  sinners  ;  of  whom  I  am  the  chief.  How- 
beit,  for  this  cause  I  obtained  mercy,  that  in  me  first,  Je- 
sus Christ  might  show  forth  all  long-suffering,  for  a  pat- 
tern to  them  which  should  hereafter  believe  on  him  to  life 
everlasting." 

Turn  to  another  text,  ye  feeble  believers,  2  Cor.  xii.  9, 
10,  and  there  you  shall  find  the  same  Apostle  a  convert 
and  a  Christian,  but  too  weak  to  conflict  with  the  messen- 
ger of  Satan  that  buffeted  him,  nor  able  to  release  himself 
from  that  sore  temptation  that  lay  heavy  upon  him  :  but 
having  received  a  word  from  Christ  that  his  'grace  was 
sufficient,'  and  that  his  '  strength  was'  to  shine  '  perfect  in 
glory  in  the  midst  of  our  weakness,'  the  Apostle  encoura- 
ges himself  to  a  joyful  hope.  Now,  says  he,  I  can  even 
"  glory  in  my  infirmities,  (so  far  as  they  are  without  sin.) 
that  the  power  of  Christ  may  rest  upon  me  ;  when  1  am 
weak"  in  myself,  "  I  am  strong"  in  the  Lord. 

Are  not  the  most  diseased  patients  the  chief  honours  of 
the  physician  that  hath  healed  them  ?  And  must  not  these 
appear  eminently  in  that  day,  when  he  displays  to  the  sight 
of  the  world  the  noblest  monuments  of  his  healing  power? 
When  cripples  and  invalids  gain  the  victory  over  mighty 
enemies,  is  not  the  skill  and  conduct  of  their  leader  most 
admired  ?  You  are  the  persons  then  in  whom  Christ  will 
be  glorified,  be  of  good  cheer,  receive  his  offered  grace, 
and  wait  for  his  salvation. 

III.  The  next  use  I  shall  make  of  this  discourse,  is  to 
draw  a  'word  of  advice'  from  it.  '  Learn  to  despise  those 
nonours  and  ornaments  in  this  world,  in  which  Christ  shall 
have  no  share  in  the  world  to  come.'  I  do  not  say,  '  cast 
them  all  away,'  for  many  things  are  needful  in  this  life, 
that  can  have  no  immediate  regard  to  the  other  ;  but  'learn 
to  despise  them,'  and  set  light  by  them,  because  they  reach 
no  further  than  time,  and  shall  be  forgotten  in  eternity. 
Never  put  the  higher  esteem  on  yourselves  or  your  neigh- 
bours, because  of  the  gay  glitterings  of  silk  or  silver :  nor 
let  these  employ  your«eyes  and  your  thoughts  in  the  time  of 
worship,  when  the  things  of  the  future  world  should'  fill 
up  all  your  attention  ;  nor  let  them  entertain  your  tongues 
in  your  friendly  visits,  so  as  to  exclude  the  discourse  of  di- 
vine ornaments  and  the  glorious  appearance  of  our  Lord  Jesus. 


GLORIFIED  IN  HIS  SAINTS.  99 

When  I  am  to  put  on  my  best  attire,  let  me  consider,  if 
I  am  hung  round  with  jewels  and  gold,  these  must  perish 
before  that  solemn  day,  or  ir.elt  in  the  last  great  burning, 
they  can  add  no  beauty  to  me  in  that  assembly.  If  I  put 
on  love  and  .faith,  and  humility,  I  shall  shine  in  these  here- 
after, and  Christ  shall  have  some*  rays  of  glory  from  them. 
0  may  your  souls  and  mine  be  drest  in  those  graces  which 
are  ornaments  of  great  price  in  the  sight  of  God!"  1  Pet. 
iii.  3,  4,  such  as  may  command  the  respect  of  angels,  and 
reflect  honour  upon  Christ  in  that  solemnity  ! 

I  confess  we  dwell  in  flesh  and  blood,  and  human  na- 
ture in  the  best  of  us  is  too  much  impressed  by  things  sen- 
sible. When  we  see  a  train  of  human  pomp  and  grand- 
eur, and  long  ranks  of  shining  garments  and  equipage,  it 
is  ready  to  dazzle  our  eyes,  and  attract  our  hearts.  Vain 
pomp,  and  poor  equipage,  all  this,  when  compared  with 
the  triumph  of  our  blessed  Lord,  at  his  appearance  with 
an  endless  army  of  his  holy  ones  ;  where  every  saint  shall 
be  vested,  (not  in  silks  and  gold,)  but  in  robes  of  refined 
light,  out-shining  the  sun,  such  as  Christ  himself  wore  in 
the  mount  of  transfiguration.  Millions  of  suns  in  one  fir- 
mament of  glory.  Think  on  that  day  and  the  illustrious 
retinue  of  our  Lord  :  think  on  that  splendor  that  shall  at- 
tract the  eyes  of  heaven  and  earth,  shall  confound  the 
proud  sinner,  and  astonish  the  inhabitants  of  hell.  Such 
a  meditation  as  this  will  cast  a  dim  shadow  over  the  brigh- 
test appearances  of  a  court,  or  a  royal  festival  ;  it  will 
spread  a  dead  colouring  over  all  the  painted  vanities  of  this 
lifc  ;  it  will  damp  every  thought  of  rising  ambition  and 
earthly  pride,  and  we  shall  have  but  little  heart  to  admire 
or  wish  for  any  of  the  vain  shows  of  mortality.  Methinks 
every  gaudy  scene  of  the  present  life,  and  all  the  gilded  ho- 
nours of  courts  and  armies,  should  grow  faint,  and  fade  a- 
way  and  vanish,  at  the  meditation  of  this  illustrious  appear- 
ance. 

IV.  This  text  will  give  us  also  two  hints  of  caution. 

First,  '  You  that  are  rich  in  this  world,  or  wise,  or 
mighty,  dare  not  ridicule  nor  scoff  at  those  poor  weak 
Christians,  in  whom  Christ  shall  be  admired  and  glorified 
in  the  last  day.'  You  that  fancy  you  have  any  advan- 
tages of  birth  or  beauty,  of  mind  or  body  here  on  earth, 
dare  not  make  a  jest  of  your  poor  pious  neighbour  that 
wants  them,  for  he  is  one  of  those  persons  whom  Christ 


100  CHRIST  ADMIRED  AND 

calls  his  glory,  and  he  himself  has  given  you  warning, 
lest  you  incur  his  resentment  on  this  account,  Matth. 
xviii.  6,  "  Whoso  shall  offend  one  of  these  little  ones  which 
believe  in  me,  it  were  better  for  him  that  a  millstone  were 
hanged  about  his  neck,  and  that  he  were  drowned  in  the 
depth  of  the  sea."  Perhaps  the  good  man  has  some  ble- 
mish in  his  outward  form,  or  it  may  be  his  countenance 
is  dejected,  or  his  mien  and  figure  awkward  and  uncome- 
ly ;  perhaps  his  garments  sit  wrong  and  unfashionable  up- 
on him-,  or  it  may  be  they  hang  in  tatters :  the  motions  of 
his  body  perhaps  are  ungraceful,  his  speech  improper,  and 
his  deportment  simple  and  unpolished  ;  but  he  has  shining 
graces  in  his  soul,  in  which  Christ  shall  be  admired  in  the 
last  day,  and  how  darest  thou  make  him  thy  laughing- 
stock ?  Wilt  thou  be  willing  to  hear  thy  scornful  jest  re- 
peated again  at  that  day,  when  the  poor  derided  Christian 
has  his  robes  of  glory  on,  and  the  Judge  of  all  shall  ac- 
knowledge him  for  one  of  his  favourites  ? 

The  second  hint  of  caution  is  this,  c  You  that  shall  be 
the  glory  of  Christ  in  that  day,  dare  not  do  any  thing  that 
may  dishonour  him  now.*  Walk  answerable  to  your  cha- 
racter and  your  hope,  nor  indulge  the  least  sinful  defile- 
ment. Say  within  yourselves,  '  Am  I  to  make  one  in  that 
splendid  retinue  of  my  Lord,  where  every  one  must  ap- 
pear in  robes  of  holiness,  and  shall  I  spot  my  garments  with 
the  flesh  ?  When  I  am  provoked  to  anger  and  indigna- 
tion, let  me  say,  doth  wrath  and  bluster  become  a  follow- 
er and  an  attendant  of  the  meek  and  peaceful  Jesus? 
When  I  am  tempted  to  pride  and  vanity  of  mind,  will 
this  be  a  beauty,  or  a  blemish,  to  that  assembly  that  shines 
in  glorious  humility  ?  Or  perhaps  I  am  wavering,  and  ready 
ta  yield,  and  become  a  captive  to  some  foolish  temptation ; 
but  how  then  can  I  expect  a  place  in  that  holy  triumph, 
which  is  appointed  for  none  but  conquerors?  And  how 
shall  I  be  able  to  look  my  blessed  General  in  the  face  on 
that  day,  if  I  prove  a  coward  under  his  banner,  and  aban- 
don my  profession  of  strict  holiness,  at  the  demand  of  a 
sinful  and  threatening  world?' 

V.  The  last  use  I  shall  make  of  the  text,  is  matter  of 
*  consolation  and  joy'  to  two  sorts  of  Christians. 

First,  'To  the  poor,  mean,  and  despised  followers  of 
Christ,'  and  in  whom  Christ  himself  is  despised  by  the 
ungodly  world  ;  read  my  text,  and  believe  that  in  you, 


GLORIFIED  IK  HIS  SAItfTS.  101 

Christ  shall  be  glorified  and  admired,  when,  with  a  mil- 
lion of  angels,  he  shall  descend  from  heaven,  and  make 
his  last  appearance  upon  earth  ;  mean  as  you  are  in  your 
own  esteem,  because  of  your  ignorance  and  your  weakness 
in  this  world,  you  shall  be  one  of  the  glories  of  Christ  in 
the  world  to  come  :  little  and  despicable  as  you  are  in  the 
esteem  of  proud  sinners,  they  shall  behold  your  Lord  ex- 
alted on  his  throue,  and  you  sitting,  among  the  honours 
at  hi$  right  hand,  while  they  shall  rage  afar  off,  and  gnash 
their  teeth  at  your  glory.  When  the  eye  of  faith  is  open, 
it  can  spy  this  bright  hour  at  a  distance,  and  bid  the  mour- 
ning Christian  rejoice  in  hope. 

Secondly,  There  'is  comfort  also  in  my  text,  to  those 
'  who  mourn  for  the  dishonour  of  Christ  in  the  world ;' 
those  lively  members  of  the  mystical  body  who  sympathize 
with  the  blessed  Head,  under  all  the  reproaches  that  are 
cast  upon  him  and  his  gospel,  who  groan  under  the  load 
of  scandal  that  is  thrown  upon  Christ  in  an  infidel  age,  as 
though  it  were  personally  thrown  upon  themselves.  It  is 
matter  of  lamentation  indeed,  that  there  are  but  few  of  this 
sort  of  Christians  in  our  day,  few  that  love  our  Lord  Jesus 
with  such  tenderness ;  but  if  such  there  be  among  you, 
open  your  eyes,  and  look  forward  to  this  glorious  day.' 
This  day,  to  which  Enoch,  the  first  of  all  the  prophets, 
and  John,  the  last  of  all  the  Apostles,  direct  our  faith.  Read 
their  own  words,  Jucle  14,  15.  Rev.  i.  7.  "Behold,  the 
Lord  cometh  with  ten  thousands  of  his  saints,  to  execute 
judgment  upon  all,  and  to  convince  all  that  are  ungodly 
among  them,  of  all  their  ungodly  deeds  which  they  have 
ungodlily  committed,  and  of  all  the  hard  speeches,  which 
ungodly  sinners  have  spoken  against  him.  Behold,  he 
cometh  with  clouds  j  and  every  eye  shall  see  him,  and 
they  also  which  pierced  him  :  and  all  kindreds  of  the 
earth  shall  wail  because  of  him."  Bear  up  your  hearts, 
ye  mourners,  and  support  your  hopes  with  the  promise  of 
our  Lord.  "Again,  a  little  while  and  ye  shall  see  me;" 
ye  shall  see  "the  Son  of  man  sitting  on  the  throne  of  his 
glory,"  Matt.  xxv.  31.  'Then  shall  your  heart  rejoice' 
in  his  honours  and  in  your  own,  and  this  "joy  no  man  tak- 
eth  from  you,"  John  xvi.  19,  22.  And  while  he  repeats 
this  promise  with  his  last  words  in  the  Bible,  'surely  I 
come  quickly/  let  every  soul  of  us  echo  to  the  voice  of 
our  beloved,  Jlmen.  Even  so  come  Lord  Jesus. 

i2 


DISCOURSE   V. 


THE  WRATH  OF  THE  LAMB. 

RET.  vi..l5,  16,  17.  And  the  kings  of  the  earth,  and  the  great  men,  and 
the  rich  men,  and  the  chief  captains,  and  the  mighty  men,  and  every  bond- 
man, and  every  free-man,  hid  themselves  in  the  dens,  and  in  the  rocks  of 
the  mountains ;  and  said  to  the  "mountains  and  rocks,  fall  on  us,  and  hide  fls 
from  the  face  of  him  that  sitteth  on  the  throne,  and  from  the  wrath  of  the 
Lamb :  for  the  great  day  of  his  wrath  is  come ;  and  who  shall  be  able 
to  stand.  '  . 

WHEN  some  terrible  judgment,  or  execution  of  divine 
vengeance  is  denounced  against  an  age  or  a  nation,  it  is 
Sometimes  described  in  the  language  of  prophecy,  by  a 
resemblance  to  the  last  and  great  judgment-day,  when  all 
mankind  shall  be  called  to  account  for  their  sins,  and  the 
just  and  final  indignation  of  God  shall  be  executed  upon 
obstinate  and  unrepenting  criminals  ;  the  discourse  of  our 
Saviour  in  the  xxivth  of  Matthew,  is  an  eminent  example 
of  this  kind,  where  the  destruction  of  the  Jewish  nation  is 
predicted,  together  with  the  final  judgment  of  the  world, 
in  such  uniform  language,  and  similar  phrases  of  speech, 
that  it  is  difficult  to  say  whether  both  these  scenes  of  ven- 
geance run  through  the  whole  discourse,  or  which  part  of 
the  discourse  belongs  to  the  one  and  which  to  the  other. 
The  same  manner  of  prophecy  appears  in  this  text. 

Learned  interpreters  suppose  these  words  to  foretell  the 
universal  consternation  which  was  found  among  the  hea- 
then idolaters  and  persecutors  of  the  Church  of  Christ, 
when  Constantine,  the  first  Christian  Emperor,  was  raised 
to  the  throne  of  Rome,  and  became  governor  of  the  world. 
But  whether  they  hit  upon  the  proper  application  of 
this  prophecy  or  not,  yet  still  it  is  pretty  evident,  that 
this  scene  of  terror  is  borrowed  from  the  last  judgment, 
which  will  eminently  appear  to  be  the  "  day  of  wrath," 
as  it  is  called,  Rom.  ii.  5.  It  is  the  great  day  of  divine 
indignation,  in  so  eminent  a  manner,  that  all  the  tremen- 
dous desolations  of  kingdoms  and  people,  from  the  crea- 

102 


THE  WRATH  OF  THE  LAMB.  10S 

tion  of  the  world,  to  the  consummation  of  all  things,  shall 
be  but  as  shadows  of  that  day  of  terror  and  vengeance. 

I  shall  therefore  consider  these  words  at  present,  as  they 
contain  a  solemn  -representation  of  that  last  glorious  and 
dreadful  day ;  and  here  I  shall  enquireparticularly,(l.)<  Who 
are  the  persons  whose  aspect  and  appearance  shall  then  be 
so  dreadful  to  sinners  ?  (2.)  How  comes  the  wrath  which 
discovers  itself  at  that  time  to  be  so  formidable  ?  and  (3.) 
How  vain  will  all  the  shifts  and  hopes  of  sinners  be,  in 
that  dreadful  day,  to  avoid  the  wrath  and  vengeance.' 

First,  Who  are  the  persons  lhat  appear  clothed  in  so 
much*  terror  ? 

It  is  he  that  "  sits  upon  the  throne,  and  the  Lamb."  It 
is  God  the  Father  of -all,  the  great  and  Almighty  Creator, 
the  supreme  Lord  and  Governor  of  the  world,  and  the 
Lamb  of -God,  i.  e.  our  Lord  JESUS  CHRIST,  his  Son,  dwell- 
ing in  human  nature,  to  whom  the  judgment  of  the  world 
is  committed,  and  by  whom  the  Father  will  introduce  the 
terrible  and  the  illustrious'  scenes  of  that  day,  and  manage 
the  important  and  eternal  affairs  of  it.  It  is  by  these  names 
that  the  Apostle  John,  in  this  prophetical  book,  describes 
God  the  Father  and  his  Son  Jesus.  Rev.  iv.  10.  and  v. 
6.— 13.  . 

If  it  be  enquired,  why  God  the  Father  is  described  as 
the  person  'sitting  on  the  throne,'  this  is  plainly  agreeable 
to  the  other  representations  of  him  throughout  the  Scrip- 
ture, where  he  is  described  as  first  and  supreme  in  author- 
ity, as  sitting  on  the  throne  of  majesty  on  high,  as  denot- 
ing and  commissioning  the  Lord  Jesus,  his  well-beloved 
Son,  to  act  for  him,  and  as  placing  him  on  his  throne,  to 
execute  his  works  of  mercy  or  vengeance.  Rev.  iii.  21. 
"  He  that  overcometh  shall  'sit  down  with  me  on  my 
throne,"  saith  our  Saviour,  "  even  as  I  have  overcome, 
and  am  set  down  with  the  Father  on  his  throne."  John  v. 
22,  27.  "The  Father  hath  committed  all  judgment  into 
the  hands  of  the  Son."  It  is  true,  the  Godhead  or  divine 
essence  is  but  one,  and  it  is  the  same  Godhead  which  be- 
longs to  the  Father  that  dwells  in  the  Son,  and  in  this  res- 
pect "Christ  and  the  Father  are  one,  he  is  in  the  Father, 
and  the  Father  in  him,"  John  x.  30,  38 ;  yet  the  Father 
is  constantly  exhibited  in  Scripture,  with  peculiar  charac- 
ters of  prime  authority,  and  the  Son  is  represented  as  re- 


104  THE  WRATH  OP  THE  LAMB. 

ceiving  all  from  the  Father.*  John  v.  19,20,23,  26,  27. 
If  it  be  farther  enquired,  i  why  Christ  is  called  the  Lamb 
of  God,'  I  §hall  not  pursue  those  many  fine  metaphors  and 
similqs,  in  which  the  wit  and  fancy  of  men  have  run  a  long 
course  on  this  subject ;  but  stiall  only  mention  these  two 
things. 

1.  He  is  called  the  Lamb,  from  the  innocence  of  his 
behaviour,  the  quietness  and  meekness  of  his  disposition 
and  conduct  in  the  world.     The  character  of  Jesus,  among 
men, 'was  peaceful,  and  harmless,  and  patient  of  injuries; 
"when* he  was  reviled,  he" reviled  not  again^  but  was  led 
as  a  Lamb  to  the  slaughter,"  with  submission,  and  without 
revenge.     This  resemblance  appears,  and  ia  set  forth  to 
view  in  several  Scriptures,  wherein  he  is  compared  to  this 
gentle  creature.   Acts  viii.  32.  1  Pet.  ii.  23. 

2.  He  was  called  the  Lamb,  because  he  was  appointed 
a  sacrifice  for  the  sins  of  men  ;  John  i.  29,  "Behold  the 
Lamb  of  God,  which  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world." 
1  Pet.  i.  18,  19,  "  You  were  re'deemed  with  the  precious 
blood  of  Christ,  as  of  a  lamb  without  blemish,  and  without 
spot."     It  was  a  lamb  that  was  ordained  for  the  constant 
daily  sacrifice  among  the  Jews,  morning  and  evening,  to 
typify  the  constant  and  everlasting  influence  of  the  atone- 
ment made  by' the  death  of  Christ.     Heb.  x.  11,  12.     It 
was  a  lamb  which  was  sacrificed  at  the  passover,  and  on 
which  the  families  of  Israel  feasted,  to  commemorate  their 
redemption  from  the  slavery  of  Egypt,  and  to  typify  Christ 
who  is  "  our  passover,  who  was  sacrificed  for  us,"  and  for 
whose  sake  the  destroying  angel  spares  all  that  trust  in 
him.     1  Cor.  v.  7. 

But  will  a  lamb  discover  such  dreadful  wrath  ?  Has  the 
Lamb  of  God  such  indignation  in  him'?  Can  the  meek, 
the  compassionate,  the  merciful  Son  of  God,  put  on  such 
terrible  forms  and  appearances  ?  Are  his  tender  mercies 
vanished  quite  away,'  and  will  he  renounce  the  kind  aspect, 
and  the  gentle  language  of  a  lamb  for  ever? 

To  this  I  answer,  that  the  various  glories  and  offices  'of 
our  blessed  Lord  require  a  variety  of  human  metaphors 
and  emblems  to  represent  them.  He  was  a  lamb,  full  of 
gentleness,  meekness,  and  compassion,  to  invite  and  en- 

*  All  the  passages  of  Scripture  which  ascribe  inferiority  or  dependence  to 
the  Son,  speak  of  him  in  his  mediatorial  character,  or  have  reference  to  hi* 
human  nature. — ED. 


THE  WRATH  OP  THE  LAMB.  105 

courage  sinful  perishing  creatures,  to  accept  of  divine  mer- 
cy :  but  he  has  now  to  deal  with  obstinate  and  rebellious 
criminals,  who  renounce  his  Father's  mercy,  and  resist  all 
the  gentle  methods  of  his  own-grace  and  salvation  :  and  he 
is  sent  by  the  Father  to  punish  those  rebellions  ;  but  he  is 
named  ( the  Lamb  of  God'  still,  to  put  the  rebels  in  mind 
what  gentleness  and  compassion  they  have  affronted  and 
abused,  and  to  make  it  appear  that  their  guilt  is  utterly 
inexcusable. 

Let  us  remember,  Christ  is  now  a  Lamb,  raised  to  the 
throne  in  heaven,  and  furnished  and  armed  'with  seven 
eyes  and  seven  horns,'  with  perfect  knowledge  and  per- 
fect power,  to  govern  the  world,  to  vindicate  his  own 
honour,  and  to  avenge  himself  upon  his  impenitent  and 
obstinate  enemies,  Rev.  v.  5,  6.  Here  the  Lamb  will  as- 
sume the  name  of  the  "  Lion  of  the  tribe  of  Judah"  also, 
and  he  must  act -in  different  characters,  according  to  the 
persons  he  has  to  deal  with. 

The  second  general  question  which  we  are  to  consider, 
is,  '  How  comes  the  wrath  of  that  great  day  to  be  so  terri- 
ble ?' 

I  answer  in  general,  because  it  is  not  only  the  (  wrath  of 
God,'  but  of  <  the  Lamb.'  It  is  the  wrath  that  is  manifest- 
ed for  the  affronts  of  divine  authority,  and  the  abuse  of 
divine  mercy  :  it  is  wrath  that  is  awakened  by  the  con- 
tempt of  the  laws  of  God,  written  in  the  books  of  nature 
and  Scripture,  and  for  the  contemnt  of  his  Invo  rw>^or\  ;n 
the  Gospel  by  Jesus  Christ. 

lA_^..j«-«jppr  to  observe  hcic,  th.nt  +h^  '  T.T^O+U  »f  Oc-J,'  ^..a 

thp  <  wrath  of  the  Lamb,'  are  not  to  be  conceived  as  exact- 
ly the  same,  for  it  is  tne  wrath  of  the  Son  of  God  in  his 
human  nature  exalted,  as  well  as  the  displeasure  of  God 
the  Father.  It  is  the  righteous  and  holy  resentment  of 
the  man  Jesus,  awakened  and  let  loose  against  rebellious 
creatures  that  have  broken  all  the  rules  of  his  Father's 
government,  and  have  refused  all  the  proposals  of  his 
Father's  grace.  It  is  the  wrath  of  the  highest,  the  great- 
est, and  the  best  of  creatures,  joined  to  the  wrath  of  an  of- 
fended Creator.*  But  let  us  enter  a  little  into  particulars. 


*  Hc*e  let  it  be  observed,  that  when  the  holy  Scripture  speaks  of  the 

torath  and  indignation  of  the  blessed  God,  we  are  not  to  understand  it  as 

though  God  were  subject  to  such  passions  or  affections  of  nature,  as  we  feel 

fermenting  or  working  within  ourselves  when  our  anger  rises.  But  because 

14 


106  THE  WRATH  OF  THE  LAMB. 

1.  It  is  righteous  wrath,  and  just  and  deserved  venge- 
ance, that  <  arises  from  the  clearest  discoveries  of  the  love 
of  God  neglected,  and  the  sweetest  messages  of  -divine 
grace  refused.'  All  the  former  discoveries  of  the  love  of 
God  to  men,  both  in  nature  and  providence,  as  well  as  by 
divine  revelation,  whether  in  the  days  of  the  Patriarchs,  or 
in  the  days  of  Moses  and  the  Jews,  were  far  inferior  to  the 
grace  which  was  revealed  by  Jesus  Christ;  and  therefore 
the  sin  of  rejecting  it  is  greater  in  proportion,  and  the 
punishment  will  be  more  severe.  "If  the  word  spoken 
by  angels  was  stead  fast,  'and  every  transgression  and  dis- 
obedience .received  -a  just  recompence  of  reward,  —  how 
shall  we  escape  if  we  neglect  so  great  salvation,  as  THIS 
which  began  to  be  spoken  by  our  Lord?"  Heb.  ii.  2,  3. 

Moses  had  man)*  true  discoveries  of  grace  made  to  him 
and  entrusted  with  him,  for  sinful  nien.  But  the  Scrip- 
ture saith,  John  i.  17,  "The  law  came  by  Moses,  and 
grace  and  truth  came  by  Jesus  Christ,"  i.  e.  in  such  super- 
abundance, as  though  grace  and  truth  had  never  appeared 
in  the  world  before.  The  forgiving  mercy  of  God,  under 
the  veil  of  ceremonies  and  sacrifices,  and  the  mediation  of 
Christ,  under  the  type  of  the  high  priest,  was  but  a  dark 
and  imperfect  discovery,  in  comparison  of  the  free,  the 
large,  the  full  forgiveness,  which  is  brought  to  us  by  the 
gospel  of  Christ.  Learn  this  doctrine  at  large,  from  Heb. 
x.  1.  —  14.  This  is  amazing  mercy,  astonishing  grace, 
and  the  despisers  of  it  will  dese.i  ve  to  perish  with  double 
-at-strtTCnon,  rurTney  wink  Their  eyes  against  clearer  light 
and  reject  the  offers  of  more  aV^uuUiij^  love. 


the  justice  or  rectoral  wisdom  of  God  Inclines  Him  to  bring  natural  evil,  pain 
or  sorrow,  upon  those  who  are  obstinately  guilty  of  moral  evil  or  sin,  and  U> 
treat  them  as  anger  or  wrath  inclines  men  to  treat  those  that  have  offended 
them  ;  therefore  the  Scripture,  speaking  after  the  manner  of  men,  calls  it, 
the  -wrath  and  indignation  of  God. 

And  it  is  hard  to  say,  whether  or  no  the  wrath  of  the  J,amb,  i.  e.  of  the 
man  Christ  Jesus,  in  whom  the  Godhead  dwells,  be  any  thing  more  than 
the  calm,  dispassionate,  rectoral  wisdom  of  tlic  human  nature  of  Christ,  in- 
clining him  to  punish  rebellious  and  impenitent  sinners,  in  conformity  to  the 
will  of  God  his  Father,  or  in  concurrence  with  the  Godhead  which  dwells  in 
him.  —  WATTS. 

[Jesus  is  not  to  be  viewed  as  merely  man,  in  discharging  the  functions  of 
Mediator.  We  might  as  well  imagine  a  human  body  to  act  without  a  soul, 
as  Christ  to  act  separately  from  the  divine  nature.  In  his  Person  the  two 
natures  are  inseparably  united.  The  "  wrath  of  the  Lamb"  is  the  execution 
of  his  just  judgment  upon  sinners.~ED.] 


THE  WRATH  OP  THE  LAMB.  107 

2.  It  is  wrath  that  is  'awakened  by  the  most  precious 
and  most  expensive  methods  of  salvation  slighted  and  under- 
valued.' Well  may  God  say  to  Christian  nations,  especial- 
ly to  Great-Britain,  who  sits  under  the  daily  sound  of 
this  gospel,  'What  could  I  have  done  more  for  you  than  I 
have  done  ?'  Isa.  v.  4.  'I  have  sent  my  own  Son,  the  son 
of  my  bosom,  the  sou  of  my  eternal  love,  to  take  flesh  and 
blood  upon  him,  that  he  might  be  able  to  die  in  your  stead 
who  were  guilty  rebels,  and  deserved  to  die  :  I  have  given 
him  up  to  the  insults  and  injuries  of  men,  to  the  tempta- 
tions, the  bufferings,  and  rage  of  devils,  to  the  stroke  of 
the  sword  of  my  justice,  to  the  cursed  death  of  the  cross 
for  you  ;  here  is  heaven  and  salvation  purchased  for  man, 
with  the  dearest  and  most  valuable  life  in  all  the  creation, 
with  the  richest  blood  that  ever  ran  in  the  veins  of  a  creature, 
with  the  life  and  blood  of  the  Son  of  God  ;  and  yet  you 
refused  to  receive  and  accept  of  this  salvation,  procured  at 
so  immense  a  price.     I  called  you  to  partake  of  this  inval- 
uable blessing  freely,  "without  money  and  without  price," 
and  yet  you  slighted  all  these  offers" of  mercy  ;  what  re- 
mains but  that  my  wrath  should  kindle  against  you  in  the 
hottest  degree,  and  fill  your  souls  with  exquisite  anguish 
and  misery  ;  you  have  refused  to  accept  of  a  covenant 
which  was  sealed  with  the  blood  of  my  own  Son,  which 
was  confirmed  by  miraculous  operations  of  my  own  Spirit ; 
you  have  valued  your  sinful  pleasures,  and  the  trifles  of 
this  vain  world,  above  the  blood  of  my  Son,  and  the  life 
of  your  souls  :  it  is  divinely  proper  that  divine  vengeance 
should  be  your  portion,  who  have  rejected  such  rich  treas- 
ures of  divine  love.'   -  Heb.  x.  28 — 31.     '  He  that  despised 
Moses'  law,  died  without  mercy,  under  two  or  three  wit- 
nesses ;  of  how  much  sorer  punishment  suppose  ye,  shall  he 
be  thought  worthy,  who  hath  trodden  under  foot  the  Son  of 
God,  and  hath  counted  the  blood  of  the  covenant,  wherewith 
he  was  sanctified,  an  unholy  thing,  and  hath  done  despite 
unto  the  Spirit  of  grace  ?    For  we  know  him  that  hath 
said   vengeance  belongeth   unto   me,  I  will  repay,  saith 
the  Lord.' 

3.  It  is  wrath  that  'must  avenge  the  affronts  and  inju- 
ries done  to  the  prime  minister  of  God's  government,  arid 
the  chief  messenger  of  his  mercy.'     All  the  patriarchs, 
and  the  prophets,  and  angels  themselves,  were  but  '  ser- 
vants* to  bring  messages  of  divine  grace  to  men  :  and  some 


108  THE  WRATH  OF  THE  LAMB. 

of  them  in  awful  forms  and  appearances,  represented  the 
authority  of  God  too.  But  the  <  Son  of  God'  is  the  prime 
minister  of  his  government,  and  the  noblest  ambassador  of 
his  grace,  and  the  chief  deputy  or  vicegerent  in  his  Fa- 
ther's kingdom.  See  Heb.  i.  1,  2.  Psal.  ii.  6,  9,  12.  His 
Father's  glory  and  grandeur,  compassion  and  love,  are 
most  sublimely  exhibited  in  the  face  of  Christ  his  Son, 
and  God  will  not  have  his  highest  and  fairest  image  disgra- 
ced and  affronted,  without  peculiar  and  signal  vengeance. 

The  great  God  will  vindicate  the  honours  of  his  Son 
Jesus,  in  the  infinite  destruction  of  a  rebellious  and  unbe- 
lieving world :  and  the  Son  himself  hath  wrath,  and  just 
resentment ;  he  will  vindicate  bis  own  authority,  and  his 
commission  of  grace.  He  hath  a  rod  of  iron  put  into  his 
hands,  as  well  as  a  sceptre  of  mercy  ^  and  with  this  rod 
will  he  break  to  pieces  rebellious  nations.  Rev.  iii.  latter 
end.  It  is  not  fit  that  the  first  minister  of  the  empire  of 
the  King  of  heaven,  and  the  brightest  image  of  his  majesty 
and  of  his  love,  should  appear  always  in  the  character  of 
a  Lamb,  a  meek  and  uriresenting  creature.  He  will  put 
on  the  Lion  when  his  commission  of  grace  is  ended  :  he 
is  the  '  Lion  of  the  tribe  of  Judah,'  Rev.  v.  5,  and  will 
*  rend  the  caul  of  the  heart'  of  those  unrepenting  sinners, 
who  have  resisted  his  authority  and  abused  his  love. 

And  how  will  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb  of  God  penetrate 
the  soul  of  sinners  with  intense  anguish,  when  the  meek 
and  the  compassionate  Jesus,  shall  be  commissioned  and 
constrained  to  speak  the  language  of  resentment  and  divine 
indignation  ? 

{  Did  you  not  hear  of  me,  sinners,  in  yonder  world, 
which  lies  weltering  in  flames  ?  Did  you  not  read  of  me 
in  the  gospel  of  my  grace  ?  Did  you  not  learn  my  cha- 
racter and  my  salvation  in  the  ministrations  of  my  word  ? 
Were  you  not  told  that  I  was  appointed  to  be  the  Saviour 
of  a  lost  world,  and  a  minister  of  divine  mercy  to  men  ? 
And  was  there  not  abundant  evidence  of  it  by  miracles 
and  prophecies  ?  Were  you  not  told  that  I  was  exalted 
after  my  sufferings  to  the  right  hand  of  God,  on  purpose 
to  "  bestow  repentance  and  remission  of  sins  ?"  Acts.  v. 
31.  And  were  you  not  informed  also,  that  I  had  a  "rod 
of  iron"  given  me  to  dash  rebels  to  death  ?  Psal.  ii.  What 
is  the  reason  you  never  came  to  me,  or  submitted  to  my 
government,  or  accepted  of  my  grace  ?  Did  you  never 


THE  WRATH  OF  THE  LAMB.  109 

hear  of  the  threatenings  that  stood  like  drawn  swords 
against  those  who  wilfully  refuse  this  mercy  ?  Did  you 
think  these  were  mere  bugbears,  mere  sounding  words  to 
fright  children  with,  and  harmless  thunder  that  would  ne- 
ver blast  you  ?  Did  you  think  these  flashes  of  wrath  in 
my  word,  were  such -sort  of  lightnings  as  you  might  safe- 
ly play  with,  and  flame  that  would  never  burn  ?  What 
punishments  think  you,  do  you  deserve,  first  for  the  abuse 
of  my  authority,  and  then  for  the  wilful  and  obstinate  re- 
fusal of  my  grace  ?  Is  it  npt  divinely  fit  and  proper,  my 
wrath  should  awake  against  such  heinous  criminals1? 
Where  is  any  proper  object  for.  my  resentment,  if  you  are 
not  made  objects  of  it  ?  Take  them,  angels,  bind  them 
hand  and  foot,  and  cast  them  into  utter  darkness.  Let 
them  be  thrown  headlong  into  the  prison  of  hell,  where 
fire  and  brimstone  burn  unquenchably,  where  light,  and 
peace,  and  hope  can  never  come.  Let  them  be  crushed 
with  the  rod  of  iron,  which  the  Father  hath  put  into  my 
hands,  as  the  first  minister  of  his  kingdom,  as  the  avenger 
of  his  despised  grace.' 

4.  It  is  a  wrath,  that  is  'excited  by  a  final  and  utter  re- 
jection of  the  last  proposals  of  divine  love.'  When  mercy 
was  offered  to  men  by  the  blessed  God  at  first,  the  discov- 
eries were  more  dark  and  imperfect  ;  there  were  still 
further  discoveries  to  be  made  in  following  ages.  There- 
fore the  crime  and  guilt  of  sinners  in  those  former  days, 
was  much  less  than  the  crime  and  guilt  of  those  who  reject 
this  last  proposal  of  mercy.  There  is  no  further  edition 
of  the  covenant  of  grace,  for  those  who  refuse  this  offer. 
Those  who  neglect  Christ  as  he  is  set  forth  in  the  gospei, 
to  be  a  sacrifice  for  sin,  "there  remains  no  more  sacrifice 
for  them,  but  a  certain  fearful  expectation  of  vengeance 
and  fiery  indignation,  which  shall  consume  the  adversa- 
ry." Heb.  x.  26,  28.  . 

All  the  former  dispensations  of  grace  are  contained  em- 
inently and  completed  in  this  dispensation  of  the  gospel. 
God  can  send  no  greater  messenger  than  his  own  Son, 
and  he  concludes  and  finishes  the  whole  scene  and  period 
of  grace,  with  the  gospel  of  Christ.  There  remains  noth- 
ing but  wrath  to  the  uttermost  for  those  who  have  abused 
this  last  offer  of  mercy.  This  was  exemplified  in  the  de- 
struction'of  Jerusalem  and  the  Jews,  a  little  after  they  had 
put  Christ  to  death,  and  rejected  the  salvation  which  he 

K 


110  'THE  WRATH  OF  THE  LAMB. 

proposed' ;  and  this  wrath  will  be  more  terribly  glorified 
in  the  final  destruction  of  every  sinner  that  wilfully  re- 
jects the  glad  tidings  of  this  salvation. 

5.  It  is  such  wrath,  as  'arises  from  the  patience  of  God, 
tired  and  worn  out  by  the  boldest  iniquities 'of  men,  and 
by  a  final  perseverance  in  their  rebellions.'     It  is  the  cha- 
racter and  glory  of  God  to  be  "  long-suffering,  and  slow  to 
anger."     Exod.  xxxiv.  6.     "  The  Lord  God  merciful  and 
gracious,  long-suffering,  and  abundant  in    goodness   and 
truth  ;"  and  Jesus  his  Son,  is  -the  minister  of  this  his  pa- 
tience, and  the  intercessor  for  this  delay  of  judgment  and 
vengeance.     He  is  represented  as  interceding  one  year 
after  another,  for  the  reprieve  of  obstinate  sinners,  and  at 
his  intercession,  God  the  Father  '  waits  to  be  gracious  :' 
but  God  will  not  wait  and  delay,  and  keep  silence  for  ev- 
er, nor  will  Jesus  for  ever  plead.  Psal.  1.  1,   3,  21,  22. 
"  Consider  this  ye  that  forget  God,  lest  he  tear  you  in  pie- 
ces, and  there  be  none  to  deliver."     God  will  say  then  to 
obstinate  sinners,  as  he  did  to  the  Jews  of  old,  Jer.  xv.'  5, 
6.     "  I  will  stretch  out  my  hand  against  thee  and  destroy 
thee,  I  am  weary  of  repenting  ;"  and  even  the  abused  pa- 
tience of  Jesus  the  Saviour,  shall  turn  into  fury,  when  the 
'day  of  recompence'  shall  come,  and  the  "day  of  venge- 
ance which  is  in  his  heart,"  Isa.  Ixiii.  1,  4. 

0  let  each  of  us  consider,  'How  long  have  I  made  the 
grace  of  God  wait  on  me  ?  How  many  messages  of  peace 
and  pardon  have  I  neglected?  How  many  years  have  I 
delayed  to  accept  of  this  salvation,  and  made  Jesus  wait  on 
an  impenitent  rebel  with  the  commission  of  mercy  in  his- 
hand,  while  I  have  refused  to  receive  it  ?  Let  my  soul 
be  this  day  awakened  to  lay  hold  of  the  covenant  of  grace, 
to  submit  to  the  gospel  of  Christ,  lest  to-morrow  the  days 
of  his  commission  of  mercy  toward  me  expire,  lest  the 
patience  of  God  be  finished,  lest  the  abused  love  of  a  Sav- 
iour turn  into  fury,  and  nothing  remain  for  me,  but  una- 
voidable destruction.' 

6.  It  is  a  sentence  of  divine  wrath,  which  'shall  be  at- 
tended with  the  fullest  conviction  of  sinners,  and  self-con- 
demnation in  their  own  consciences.'     This  doubles  the 
sensations  of  divine  wrath,  and  enhances  the  anguish  of 
the  criminal  to  a  high  degree. 

This  final  unbelief  and  rejection  of  grace, is  a  sin  against 
so  much  light  and  so  much  love,  that  however  men  cheat 


THE  WRATH  OP  THE  LAMB.  Ill 

their  consciences  now,  and  charm  them  into  silence,  yet  at 
the  last  great  day  their  own  consciences  shall  be  on  the 
side  of  the  Judge,  when  he  pronounces  wrath  and  damna- 
tion upon  them.  What  infinite  terrors  will  shake  the  soul, 
when  there  is  not  one  of  its  own  thoughts  that  can  speak 
peace  within  ?  When  all  its  own  inward  powers,  shall 
echo  to  the  sentence  of  the  Judge,  and  acknowledge  the 
justice  and  equity  of  it  forever. 

0  who  can  express  the  agonies  of  pain  and  torture,  when 
the  impenitent  sinner  shall  be  awakened  into  such  reflec- 
tions as  these  ?  '  I  was  placed  in  aland  of  light  aad  knowl- 
edge ;  the  light  of  the  gospel  of  grace  shone  all  around 
me  ;  but  I  winked  my  eyes  against  the  light,  and  now  I 
am  plunged  into  utter  and  eternal  darkness  ;  I  was  con- 
vinced often  that  I  was  a  sinner,  and  in  danger  of  death 
and  hell,  I  was  convinced  of  the  truth  of  the  gospel,  and 
the  all-sufficiency  of  the  salvation  of  Christ ;  but  I  loved  the 
vanities  of  this  life,  I  followed  the  appetites  of  the  flesh, 
and  the  delusive  charms  of  a  tempting  world,  I  delayed  to 
answer  to  the  voice  of  Providence  and  the  voice  of  mercy, 
the  voice  of  the  gospel  inviting  me  to.  this  salvation,  and 
the  voice  of  Christ  requiring  me  to  be  saved.  My  own 
heart  condemns  me  with  ten  thousand  reproaches :  how 
righteous  is  God  in  his  indignation  !  how  just  is  the  resent- 
ment of  the  Lamb  of  God  in  this  day  of  his  wrath  !  What 
clear  and  convincing  and  dreadful  equity  attends  the  sentence 
of  my  condemnation,  and  doubles  the  anguish  of  my  soul!' 
7.  It  is  such  wrath  as  '  shall  be  executed  hmnediately 
and  eternally,  without  one  hour  reprieve,  and  without  the 
least  hope  of  mercy,  and  that  through  all  the  ages  to  come.' 
For  though  Jesus  is  the  Mediator  between  God  and  man, 
to  reconcile  those  to  God  who  have  broken  his  law,  there 
is  no  mediator  appointed  to  reconcile  those  sinners  to  Christ, 
when  they  have  finally  resisted  the  grace  of  his  gospel. 
There  is 'no  blood  nor  death  that  can  atone,  for  the  final 
rejection  of  the  blood  of  this  dying  Saviour.  If  we 
resist  Jesus  Christ  the  Lord,  and  his  atonement,  and 
his  sacrifice,,  his  gospel,  and  his  salvation,  there  remains 
no1  more  atonement  for  us.  Let  us  consider  each  of  these 
circumstances  apart,  and  dwell  a  little  on  these  terrors, 
'  that  our  hearts  may  be  affected  with  them. 

(1.)  This  '  wrath  shall  be  executed  immediately,'  for  the 
time  of  reprieve  is  come  to  an  end.     Here  divine  wisdom 


112  THE  WRATH  OF  THE  LAMB. 

and  justice  have  set  the  limits  of  divine  patience,  and  they 
reach  no  further. 

(2.)  It  is  '  wrath  that  shall  be  executed  without  mercy/ 
because  the  day  and  hour  of  mercy  is  for  ever  finished. 
That  belongs  only  to  this  life.  The  day  of  grace  is  gone 
for  ever.  "He  that  once  made  them,  will  now  have  no 
mercy  upon  them  :  and  he  that  formed  them  will  shew 
them  no  favour,"  Isa.  xxvii.  11.  The  very  mercy  of  the 
Mediator,  the  compassion  of  the  Lamb  of  God,  is  turned 
into  wrath  and  fury.  The  Lamb  himself  has  put  on  the 
form  of  a  Lion,  and  there  is  no  redeemer  or  advocate  t& 
speak  a  word  for  them  who  have  finally  rejected  Jesus  the 
only  Mediator,  worn  out  the  age  of  his  pity,  and  provok- 
ed his  wrath  as  well  as  his  Father's. 

(3.)  It  is  f  wrath  without  end,'  for  their  souls  are  immor- 
tal, their  bodies  are  raised  to  an  immortal  state,  and  their 
whole  nature  being  sinful  and  miserable,  and  immortal, 
the}r  must  endure  a  wretched  and  .miserable  immortality.. 
This  is  the  representation  of  the  book  of  God,  even  of 
the  New  Testament,  and  I  have  no  commission  from  God, 
either  to  soften  these  words  of  terror,  or  to  shorten  the 
term  of  their  misery. . 


REMARKS  ON  THIS  DISCOURSE. 

Remark  1.  'What  a  wretched  mistake  is  it  to  imagine 
the  great  God  is  nothing  else  but  Mercy,'  and  Jesus  Christ 
1  is  nothing  else  but  love  and  salvation.'  It  is  true, 
God  has  more  mercy  than  we  can  imagine,  his  love  is 
boundless  in  many  of  .its  exercises,  and  Jesus  his  Son, 
who  is  the  image  of  the  Father,  is  the  fairest  image  of  his 
love  and  grace.  His  compassions  have  "  heights  and  depths, 
and  lengths  and  breadths  in  them,  that  pass  all  our  knowl 
edge,"  Eph.  iii.  18.  But  God  is  an  universal  Sovereign 
a  wise  and  righteous  Governor.  There  is  majesty  with 
him  as  well  as  grace  ;  and  '  Jesus  is  Lord  of  lords  and 
King  of  kings  ;  he  bears  the  image  of  his  Father's  justice, 
as  well  as  of  his  Father's  love  ;  otherwise,  he  could  not 
be  the  full  "  brightness  of  his  glory,  nor  the  express  im- 
age of  his  person." 

And  besides,  the  Father  hath  armed  him  with  powers  of 
divine  vengeance,  as  well  as  with  powers  of  mercy  and  salva- 
tion. Psal.  ii.  9.  He  has  put  'the  rod  of  iron'  into  his  hand, 


THE  WRATH  OF  THE  LAMB.  113 

"  to  dash  the  nations  like  a  potter's  vessel."  Rev.  ii.  27. 
and  xix.  1 3.  He  is  the  "  elect  and  precious  corner  stone 
laid  in  Zion,"  1  Pet.  ii.  6.  But  he  is  a  stone  that "  will 
bruise  those  who  stumble  at  him,"  and  "those  on  whom 
he  shall  fall,  he  will  grind  them  to  powder,"  Matth.  xxi. 
42.  He  is  a  Lamb  and  a  Lion  too.  He  can  suffer  at 
Jerusalem  and  mount  Calvary,  with  silence,  <  and  not 
open  his  mouth  ;'  and  he  can  roar  from  heaven  with  over- 
spreading terror,  and  shake  the  world  with  the  sound  of 
his  anger.  See  that  his  mercy  be  not  abused. 

Remark  2.  'The  day  of  Christ's  patience  makes  haste 
to  an  end.'  Every  day  of  neglected  grace  hastens  on 
the  hour  of  his  wrath  and  vengeance.'  Sinners  waste 
their  months  and  years  in  rebellion  against  his  love,  while 
he  waits  months  and  years  to  be  gracious ;  but  Christ  is 
all-wise,  and  he  knows  the  proper  period  of  long-suffer- 
ing, and  the  proper  moment  to  let  all  his  wrath  and  re- 
sentment loose,  on  obstinate  and  unreclaimable  sinners. 
0  may  every  one  of  our  souls  awake  to  faith  and  repen- 
tance, to  religion  and  righteousness,  to  hope  and  salvation, 
before  this  day  of  our  peace  be  finished  and  gone  for  ev- 
er! Psa!.  ii.  12.  "  Kiss  the  Son  lest  he  be  angry,  and 
ye  perish  from  the  way,  when  his  wrath  is  kindled  but 
a  little."  There  was  once  a  season  when  he  saw  the  na- 
tion of  the  Jews,  and  the  people  of  Jerusalem,  wasting 
the  proposals  of  his  love  ;  they  let  their  day  of  mercy 
pass  av/ay  unimproved,  and  he  foretold  their  destruction 
\vi-:li  tears  in  his  eyes.  Luke  xix.  41,  42.  "  He  beheld 
the  city  a;ul  wept  over 'it ;"  alas,  for  the  inhabitants  who 
would  not  be  saved.  He  was  then  a  messenger  of  salva- 
tion, and  clothed  with  pity  to  sinners,  but  in  the  last  great 
day  of  his  wrath,  there  is  no  place  for  these  tears  of  com- 
passion, no  room  for  pity  or  forgiveness. 

Remark  3.  'When  we  preach  terror 'to  obstinate  sin- 
ners, we  may  preach  Jesus  Christ  as  well  as  when  we 
preach  love  and  salvation,-  for  he  is  the  minister  of  his 
Father's  government  both  in  vengeance  aod  in  mercy.' 
The  Lamb  hath  wrath  as  well  as  grace,  and  he  is  to  be 
feared  as  well  as  to  be  trusted  ;  and  he  must  be  repre- 
sented under  all  the  characters  of  dignity  to  which  he  is 
exalted,  that '  knowing  the  terrors  of  the  Lord,'  as  well 
as  the  compassion  of  the  Saviour,  '  we  may  persuade  sinful 
men  to  accept  of  salvation  and  happiness.' 

15  *  3 


DISCOURSE    VI. 


THE  VAIN  REFUGE  OF  SINNERS :    OR  A  MEDITATION  ON 
THE  ROCKS  NEAK  TUNBRIDGE- WELLS;  1729. 

REV.  vi.  15,  16  17.  And  the  kings  of  the  earth,  and  the  great,  men, 
and  the  rich  men,  &c.  hid  themselves  in  the  dens,  and  in  the  rocks  of  the 
mountains  ;  and  said  to  the  rocks  and  mountains,  fall  on  us,  and  hide  us 
from  the  face  of  him  that  sitteth,  on  the  throne,  and  from  the  wrath  of  the- 
Lamb. 

IN  the  former  discourse  on  this  text,  we  have  taken  a 
survey  of  these  two  persons  and  their  characters,  God  and 
the  Lamb,  whose  united  wrath  spreads  so  terrible  a  scene 
through  the  world  at  the  great  judgment-day  ;  we  have 
also  inquired,  and  found  sufficient  reasons,  why  the  anger 
and  justice  of  God  should  be  so  severe  against  the  sinful 
sons  and  daughters  of  men,  who  have  wilfully  broken  his 
law,  and  refused  the  grace  of  his  gospel ;  and  why  the  in- 
dignation of  the  Son  of  God  should  be  superadded  to  all 
the  terrors  of  his  Father's  vengeance. 

We  are  nowr  come  to  the  third  and  last  general  head  of 
discourse,  and  that  is  to  consider,  'how  vain  will  all  the 
refuges  and  hopes  of  sinners  be  found  in  that  dreadful  day, 
when  God  and  the  Lamb  shall  join  to  manifest  their  wrath 
and  indignation  against  them.' 

These  hopes,  and  shifts,  and  refuges  of  rebellious  and 
guilty  creatures,  are  represented  by  a  noble  image  and  de- 
scription in  my  text :  "They  shall  call  to  the  rocks  and  the 
mountains  to  fall  upon  them,  and  to  cover  them  from  the 
face  of  him  that  sits  upon  the  throne,  and  from  the  wrath 
of  the  Lamlr."  As  this  address  to  mountains  and  to  rocks 
appears  to  be  but  a  vain  hope  in  extreme  distress,  when  a 
feeble  and  helpless  criminal  is  pursued  by  a  swift  and 
mighty  avenger,  so  vain  and  fruitless  shall  all  the  hopes  of 
sinners  be,  to  escape  the  just  indignation  and  sentence  of 
their  Judge.  In  order  to  shew  the  vanity  of  all  the  refuges 
and  shifts  to  which  sinners  shall  betake  themselves  in  that 

114 


THE  VAIN  REFUGE  OF  SINNERS.  115 

day,  let  us  spread  abroad  this  sacred  description  of  them 
in  a  paraphrase  under  the  following  heads. 

1.  Let  us  consider  the  'rocks  and  mountains,  as  vast  and 
mighty  created  beings,  of  huge  figure,  and  high  appearance, 
whose  aid  is  sought  in  the  last  extremity  of  distress ;'  and 
what  is  this  but  calling  upon  creatures  to  help  them  against 
their  Creator  ?  What  is  it  but  flying  to  creatures  to  deliv- 
er and  save  them,  when  their  offended  God  resolves  to 
punish  ?.  A  vain  refuge  indeed,  when  God,  the  Almighty 
Maker  of  all  things,  and  Jesus  his  Son,  by  whom  all  things 
were  made,  shall  agree  to  arise  and  go  forth  against  them, 
in  their  robes  of  judgment,  and  with  their  artillery  of  ven- 
'geance  !  What  created  being  dares  interpose  in  that  hour 
to  shelter  or  defend  a  condemned  criminal  ?  What  high 
and  mighty  creature  is  able  to  afford  the  least  security  or 
protection  ? 

The  princes  of  the  earth,  and  the  captains,  the  kings, 
and  heroes,  and  conquerors,  with  all  their  millions  of  arm- 
ed men,  are  not  able  to  lift  a  hand,  for  the  defence  of  one 
sinner  against  the  anger  of  God  and  the  Lamb.  They 
themselves  shall  quake  and  shiver  at  the  tremendous  sight, 
and  they  shall  fly  into  the  holes  of  the  rocks  like  mere 
cowards,  and  shall  join  their  outcries  with  the  poor  and  the 
slave,  entreating  the  rocks  and  mountains  to  befriend  them 
with  shelter  and  safety. 

Not  the  highest  mountains,  not  the  hardest  or  the  strong- 
est rocks,  not  the  most  exalted  or  most  powerful  persons, 
or  things  in  nature  can  defend,  when  the  God  of  nature  re- 
solves to  destroy.  When  HE  who  is  higher  than  the  high- 
est, and  stronger  than  the  strongest,  shall  pronounce  de- 
struction upon  rebels, what  creature  can  speak  deliverance? 

The  rocks  and  the  mountains  obey  their  Maker,  they 
shiver  in  pieces  at  the  word  of  his  wrath,  and  will  yield  no 
relief  to  criminals  :  but  man,  rebellious  man,  disobeys1  his 
Maker,  and  calls  to  the  rocks  and  mountains  to  protect 
him.  Vain  hope,  0  sinner,  to  make  the  most  exalted 
creatures  your  friends,  when  God  the  Creator  is  your  ene- 
my. These  inanimate  things  have  never  learnt  disobe- 
dience to  their  Maker,  and  rather  than  screen  a  rebel  from 
his  deserved  judgments,  they  will  offer  themselves  as  in- 
struments of  divine  vengeance. 

2.  Rocks  and  mountains  in  their  clifts,  and  dens,  and 
caverns,  are  sometimes  considered  as  « places  of  secresy 


116  THE  VAIN  UEFtTGE  OP  SINNERS. 

and  concealment.'  My  text  tells  us,  that  '  kings  and 
mighty  men,  the  rich  and  the  free  man,  as  well  as  the  poor 
and  the  slave,  hid  themselves  in  dens,  and  in  the  rocks  of 
the  mountains.'  They  hoped  there  might  he  some  secret 
corner,  whose  thick  shadows  and  darkness  were  sufficient 
to  hide  them,  where  the  Judge  might  not  spy  or  find  them 
out.  Vain  hope  for  sinners  to  hide  in  the  holes  of  the 
rocks,  and  the  deepest  caverns  of  the  mountains,  to  escape 
the  notice  of  that  God,  who  is  all  eye  and  all  ear,  and 
present  at  once  in  every  place  of  earth  and  heaven  !  Fool- 
ish expectation  indeed,,  to  avoid  the  notice  of  the  Son  of 
God,  "whose  eyes  are  as  a  flame  of  fire,"  and  shoot  through 
the  earth  and  its  darkest  caves. 

Read  the  139th  Psalm,  0  sinner  !  and  then  think  if  it  be 
possible  to  flee  from  the  eye  of  God,  and  to  hide  thy- 
self in  the  clefts  of  the.  rock,  where  his  hand  shall  not 
find  thee. — He  has  already  'beset thee  behind  and  before,' 
and  his  hand -already  compasses  thee  round  about  in  all 
thy  paths.  •  Darkness  itself  cannot  cover  thee  ;  '  the  night 
shines  as  the  day'  before  him,  and  scatters  light  round 
about  the  criminal  that  would  hide  himself  from  the  wrath 
of  God.  Ask  Jeremy  the  prophet,  and  he  shall  tell  thee, 
that  "  none  can  hide  himself  in  secret  places  where  God 
shall  not  see  him,  the  God  who  fills  heaven  and  earth," 
Jer.  xxiii.  4.  He  shall  hunt  obstinate  sinners  from  every 
mountain,  and 'out  of  the  holes  of  the  rocks;  for  his  eyes 
are  upon  all  their  ways,  neither  their  persons,  nor  their 
iniquities/can  be  hid  from  him. 

And,  as  you  can  never  conceal  yourselves  from  the  sigh 
and  notice  of  the  Judge,  so  neither  can  you  turn  your  eyes 
away  from  him.  You  must  behold  his  face  in  vengeance, 
and  endure  the  distressing  sight.  The  rays  of  his  Majes- 
ty, in  the  day  of  his  wrath,  shall  strike  through  all  the 
crannies  of  the  darkest  den,  and  pierce  the  deepest  shade. 
"Lord,  when  thy  hand  is  lifted  up  they  will  not  see  ;  but 
they  shall  see  and  be  ashamed,'  Isa.  xxvi.  10.  And  the 
face  of  the  Lamb  must  be  seen  in  all  its  unknown  terrors, 
Rev.  i.  7.  "  Behold,  he  comes  in  the  clouds,  and  every 
eye  shall  see  him  :"  the  guilty  creature,  and  the  divine 
Avenger,  shall  meet  eye  to  eye,  though  the  creature  has 
hid  himself  under  rocks  and  mountains. 

3.  These- 'rocks  and  mountains'  are  designed  to  repre- 
sent, not  only  concealment  and  darkness  by  their  holes 


THE  VAIN  REFUGE  OF  SINNERS.  117 

and  caverns,  but  they  are  known  'bulwarks  of  defence.' 
and  '  places  of  security  and  shelter,  by  reason  of  their 
strength  and  thickness.'  When  the  prophet  would  ex- 
press the  safety  of  the  man  who  practises  righteousness  m 
a  vicious  age,  Isa.  xxxiii.  16,  he  says,  "He  shall  dweli  on 
high,  his  place  of  defence  shall  be  a  munition  of  rocks." 
These  shall  be  a  bulwark  round  him  for  his  guard  and 
safety.  When  sinners  therefore  flee  to  the  mountains, 
and  to  the  rocks,  they  may  be  supposed  to  seek  a  thick 
covering,  or  a  shield  of  defence  to'  secure  them,  where  the 
strokes  of  divine  anger  shall  not  break  through  and  reach 
them.  They  trust  .to  the  solid  protection  of  the  rocks, 
and  the  strength  of  the  mountains  to  guajrd  them  ;.  butthese, 
alas  !  can  yield  no  shelter  from  the  stroke  .of  the  arm  of 
God.  Should  the  rocks,  0  sinner. !  attempt  to  befriend 
thee,  and  surround  thee  with  their  thickest  fortification, 
his  wrath  would  cleave  them  asunder  and  pierce  thee  'to 
the  soul,  with  greater  ease. than  thou  canst  break  through 
a  paper  wall  with  the  battering  engines  of  war.  Ask  the 
prophet  Nahum,  who  was  acquainted  with  the  majesty  of 
God,  and  he  shall  tell  thee,  how  it  "  throws  down  the 
mountain,  antl  tears  the  rock  in  pieces.  When  his  fury  is 
poured  out  like  fire,  the  mountains  quake  at  him,  the  hills 
melt, the  earth  is  burnt  at  his  presence,  with  all  that"  dwell 
therein.  He  that  "has  his  way  in  the  whirlwind  anJ  in 
the  storm,  anrl  t.hf  r.lnuds  a-rn  the.  'dust  of  his  fcet»"  what 
mountain  "  can  stand  before  his  indignation  ?"  And  where 
is  the  rock  "that  can  abide  in  the  fierceness  of  his  anger?" 
Nah.  i.  2 — 6.  Were  the  whole  globe  of  the  earth  one 
massy  rock,  and  should  it  yawn  to  the  very  centre  to  give 
thee  a  refuge  and  hiding-place,  and  then  close  again  and 
surround  thee  with  its  solid  defence,  yet,  when  the  Lord 
commands,  the  earth  will  obey  the  voice  of  him  that  made 
it ;  this  solid  earth  would  cleave  again  and  resign  the  guil- 
ty prisoner,  and  yield  thee  up  to  the  sword  of  his  justice. 
Wheresoever  God  resolves  to  strike,  safety  and  defence 
are  impossible  things.  The  sinner  must  suffer  without 
remedy,  and  with'out  hope,  who  has  provoked  an  Almigh- 
ty God,  and  awakened  the  wrath  of  that  Saviour  "who 
can  subdue  all  things  to  himself." 

4.  'Rocks  and  mountains'  falling  upon  us  are  'instru- 
ments of  suddea  and  overwhelming  death.'  When  sin- 
ners therefore  call  to  the  'rocks  and  mountains  to  fall  up- 


118  THE  VAIN  REFUGE  OF  SINKERS. 

on  them  and  cover  them,'  they  are  supposed  to  endeavour 
to  put  an  end  to  their  own  beings  by  some  overwhelming 
destruction,  that  they  may  not  live  to  feel  and  endure  the 
resentments  of  an  affronted  God,  and  an  abused  Saviour. 
Though  they  are  just  raised  to  life,  they  would  fain  die 
again  ;  but  God,  who  calls  the  dead  from  their  graves,  wiill 
forbid  the  rocks  and  the  mountains,  and  every  creature,  to 
lend  sinners  their  aid  to  destroy  themselves.  Sinners,  in 
that  dreadful  day,  shall  '  seek  death,  but  death  shall  flee 
from  them.'  Their  natures  are  now  made  immortal,  and 
the  fall  of  rocks  and  mountains  cannot  crush  them  to  death. 
They  must  live  to  sustain  the  weight  of  divine  wrath, 
which  is  heavier  than  rocks  and  mountains. 

The  life  which  *God  hath  now  given  to  men  in  this  mor- 
tal state,  may  be  given  up  again,  or  thrown  away  by  the 
daring  impiety  of  self-murder  ;  and  they  may  make  many 
creatures  instruments  of  their  own  destruction  ;  but  the 
life  which  the  Son  of  God  shall  give  them,  when  he  calls 
them  from  the  dead  is  everlasting  ;  they  cannot  resign 
their  existence  and  immortality,  they  cannot  pai't  with  it, 
nor  can  any  creature  take  it  from  them.  They  would  ra- 
ther die  than  see  God  in  his  majesty,  or  ihe  Lamb  arrayed 
in  his  robes  of  judgment ;  but  the  wretches  are  immortal- 
ized to  punishment,  by  the  long  abused  majesty  and  pow- 
er of  God  :  and  they  must  live  forever  to  learn  what  it  is 
to  desplstthe  authority  of  God,  and  to  abuse  the  grace  of 
a  Saviour.  -Tneir  duum  is  "  everlasting  burnings  :  they 
have  no  rest  day  nor  night,  the  smoke  of  their  torment 
will  ascend  for  ever  and  ever,  in  the  presence  of  the  holy 
angels,  and  in  the  presence  of  the  Lamb."  Rev.  xiv.  10, 11. 

Thus  have  we  considered  those  huge  and  bulky  beings, 
the  rocks  and  the  mountains,  in  all  their  vast  and  mighty 
figures  and.  appearances,  with  all  their  clefts,  and  dens, 
and  caverns,  for  shelter  and  concealment,  with  all  their 
fortification  and  massy  thickness  for  defence,  and  with  all 
their  power  to  crush  and  destroy  mankind,  and  yet  we 
find  them  utterly  insufiicient  to  hide,  cover,  or  protect 
guilty  creatures,  in  that  great  day  of  the  wrath  of  God 
and  the  Lamb.  

4 

REFLECTIONS  ON  THE  FOREGOING  DISCOURSE. 

1.  '  How  strangely  do  all  the  appearances  of  Christ  to 
sinners,  in  the  several  seasons  and  dispensations  of  his 


THE  VAIN  REFUGE  OP  SINNERS.  119 

grace,  differ  from  that  last  great  and  solemn  appearance, 
which  to  them  will  be  a  dispensation  of  final  vengeance. 
He  visited  the 'world  in  divine  visions  of  old,  even  from 
the  day  of  the  sin  of  Adam,  and  it  was  to  reveal  mercy  to 
sinful  man  ;  and  he  sometimes  assumed  the  majesty  of 
God,  to  let  the  world  know  he  was  not  to  be  trifled  with, 
He  visited  the  earth  at  his  incarnation  :  how  lowly  was 
his  state !  how  full  of  grace  his  ministry  !  yet  he  then 
gave  notice  of  this  day  of  vengeance,  whelihe  should  appear 
in  his  own  and  his  Father's  most  awful  glories. 

He  visits  the  nations  now  with  the  word  of  salvation, 
he  appears  in  the  glass-of  his1  gospel,  and  in  the  ordinan- 
ces of  his  sanctuary,  as  a  Saviour  whose  heart  melts  with 
love,  and  in  the  language  of  his  tenderest  compassions,  and 
of  his  dying  groans,  he  invites  sinners  to  be  reconciled  to 
an  offended  God.  He  appears  as. a  Lamb  made  a  sacrifice 
for  sin,  and  as  a  Minister  of  his  Father's  mercy,  offering 
and  distributing  pardons  to  criminals.  But  when  he  vis- 
its the  world  as  a  final  judge,  how  solemn  and  illustrious 
will  that  appearance  be  ?  How  terrible  his  countenance 
to  all  those  who  have  refused  to  receive  him  as  a  Saviour? 
"  Behold  he  cometh  in  flaming  fire,  with  ten  thousand  of 
his  angels,  to  render  vengeance  to  them  thai"  resisted 
his  grace,  and  disobeyed  the  invitation  of  his  gospel, 
2  Thes.  i.  7. 

Time  was,  when  the  "  Father  sent  forth  his  Son,  not  to 
condemn  the  world,  but  that  through  him  the  world  might 
have  life,"  John  iii.  17.  But  the  time  is  coming,  when 
God  shall  send  him  arrayed  with  Majesty,  and  with  right- 
eous indignation,  to  condemn  the  rebellious  world,  and 
inflict  upon  them  the  pains  of  eternal  death.  Hast  thou 
seen  him,  0  my  soul !  in  the  discoveries  of  his  mercy,  fly 
to  him  with  all  the  wings  of  faith  and  love,  with  all  the 
speed  of  desire  and  joy  fly  to  him,  receive  his  grace,  and 
accept  of  his  salvation,  that  when  the  day  of  the  wrath  of 
the  Lamb  shall  appear,  thou  mayest  behold  his  counte- 
nance without  terror  and  confusion. 

Refl.  2.  (  How  very  different  will  the  thoughts  of 'sin- 
ners be  in  that  day,  from  what  they  are  at  present  ?  How 
different  their  wishes  and  their  inclinations  ?'  And  that 
with  regard  to  this  one  terror,  which  my  text  describes, 
viz.  that  they  shall  address  themselves  to  the  rocks  and 
mountains  for  shelter,  and  fly  into  the  dens  and  caverns 


180  THE  VAIN  BEFUGE  OF  SINNERS. 

of  the  earth  for  concealment  and  safety.     Let  us  survey 
this  in  a  few  particulars. 

Sinners,  whose  '  looks  were  once  lofty  and  disdainful',' 
whose  eyes  were  exalted  in  pride,  their  mouth  set  against 
the  heavens,  and  their  hearts  haughty  and  full  of  scorn, 
they  shall  be  humbled  to  the  dust  of  the  earth,  they  shall 
creep  into  the  hiding-places  of  the  moles  and  the  bats,  and 
thrust  their  heads  into  holes  and  caverns,  and  dens  of  des- 
olation, at  the  appearance  .of  God  their  Creator  in  flaming 
fire,  and  the.  Son  of  God  their  Judge  ;  for  he  is  the  aven* 
ger  of  his  own  and  his  Father's,  injured  honours. 

Sinners  who  were  '  once  fwid  of-  their  idols  and  their 
sensual  delights,'  who  made  idols  to  themselves  of  every 
agreeable  creature,  and  gave  it  that  place  in  their  hearts 
which  belongs  only  to  God,  they  shall  be  horribly  con- 
founded in  that  day,  when  God  shall  appear  in  his  Majes- 
ty, to  shake  the  earth  to  the  centre,  and  to  burn  the  sur- 
face of  it  with  all  its  bravery.  This  is  nobly  described 
by  the  prophet  Isaiah,  chap,  the  2d  from  10 — 21.  "  In 
that  day  shall  a  man  cast  his  idols  of  silver,  and  his  idols 
of  gold,  which  they  made,  each  one  for  himself  to  worship, 
to  the  moles  and  to  the  bats,  to  go  into  the  clefts  of  the 
rock,  and  into  the  tops  of  the  ragged  rocks,  for  fear  of  the 
Lord,  and  for  the  glory  of  his  Majesty,  when  he  ariseth 
to  shake  terribly  the  earth." 

Sinners  who  once  'could  not  tell  how  to  spend  a  day 
without  gay  company,5  those  sons  and  daughters  of  mirth, 
who  turned  their  midnights  into  noon,  with  the  splendor 
of  their  lamps,  and  the  rich  and  shining  furniture  of  theii 
palaces,  those  noidy  companions  of  riot,  who  made  the 
streets  of  the  city  resound  with  their  midnight  revels,  they 
shall  now  fly  to  the  solitary  caverns  of  the  rocks,  and 
would  be  glad  to  dwell  there  in  darkness  and  silence  for 
ever,  if  they  might  but  avoid  the  wrath  of  a  provoked  God, 
and  the  countenance  of  an  abused  Saviour.  They  would 
fain  be  shut  up  for  ever  from  day-light,  lest  they  should 
see  the  face  of  art  Almighty  enemy,  whose  name  and  hon- 
our have  been  reproached,  in  their  songs  of  lewd-jollity 
and  profaneness. 

Sinners  who  once  l  were  fond  qf  liberty  in  the  wildest 
sense,'  and  could  not  bear  that  any  restraints  should  be 
laid  upon  their  persons  or  their  wishes,  who  never  could 
endure  the  thought  of  a  confinement  to  their  closets,  for 


THE  VAIN  REFUGE  OF  SINNERS.  121 

one  half  hour  to  converse  with  God,  or  with  their  own 
souls  there,  they  call  now  aloud  to,  the  rocks  and  the  moun- 
tains to  immure  them  round,  as  a  refuge  from  the  eye  of 
their  Judge.  They  were  once  perpetually  roving  abroad, 
and  gadding  through  all  the  gay  scenes  of  sensuality,  in 
quest  of  new  and  flowery  pleasures,  but  now  they  beg  to 
be  imprisoned  for  ever  in  the  dens  and  caves  of  the  earth; 
the  deepest  and  most  dismal  caves  are  their  most  ardent 
wishes,  that  they  might  never  see  the  countenance  of  their 
divine  Avenger,  nor  feel  the  weight  of  his  hand. 

Sinners  who  '  heretofore  thought  themselves  and  their 
deeds  of  darkness  secure  enough  from  the  eye  of  God, 
and  from  the  strokes  of  his  justice,'  while  they  revelled  in 
their  common  habitations,  those,  who  even  under  the  open 
sky  could  defy  the  Almighty,  could  laugh  at  his  threat- 
enings,and  mock  the  prophecies  of  his  vengeance,  now  they 
can  find  no  caverns,  deep  or  dark  enough,  to  hide  them 
from  his  sight ;  his  lightnings  penetrate  the  hardest  rocks, 
and  shine  into  the  deepest  solitudes  :  there  is  no  screen  or 
shelter  thick  and  strong  enough  to  stand  between  God  and 
them,  and  to  cover  and  shield  them  from  his  thunder. — 
They  call  now  to  the  mountains  and  the  rocks  to  be  an 
eternal  screen  ;  but  the  rocks  and  the  mountains  are  deaf 
to  their  cry.     Then  shall  they  remember,  with  unknown 
regret  and  anguish,  those  days  of  grace,  when  Christ  Je- 
sus, who  is  now  their  Judge,  offered  himself  to  become  a 
screen  to  them,  and  a  defence  from  the  anger  of  God  their 
Creator  :  but  they  rejected  this  offered  grace'.     He  would 
have  been  the  rock  of  their  safety,  where  they  should  have 
found  refuge  from  the  fiery  threatening*  of  the  broken  law, 
and  the  majesty  of  an  offended  God  :  the  Father  himself 
had  appointed  him  for  this  kind  office  to  repenting  sinners, 
and  perhaps  he  gave  Moses  a  type  or  emblem  of  it,  when 
he  commanded  him  to  hide  himself  in  the  clefts  of  the 
rock,  to  secure  him  from  destruction,  while  the  burning 
blaze  of  his  glory  passed  by,  Exocl.  xxxiii.  22.   And  Isaiah 
the  prophet  had  foretold,  that  this  Jesus  should    be  as 
"the  shadow  of  a  great  rock,"  to  shelter  them  from  the 
beams  of  the  wrath  of  God  ;  but  they  refused  this  blessing, 
they  renounced  this  refuge ;  and  now  they  find  there  is  no 
other  rock  sufficient  to  become  a  shelter  from  the  stroke  of 
his  almighty  arm,  or  a  sufficient  shadow  from  the  burning 
vengeance. 

16  L 


122  THE  VAIN  REFUGE  OF  SINNERS. 

Sinners,  who  '  once  over-rated  their  flesh  and  blood, 
and  loved  it  with  infinite  fondness,'  who  treated  their  flesh- 
ly appetites  with  excessive  nicety  and  elegance,  and  affect- 
ed a  humourous  delicacy  in  every  thing  round  about  them, 
would  now  gladly  creep  into  the  mouldy  caverns  of  the 
rocks,  they  would  be  glad  to  hide  and  defile  themselves 
in  the  dark  and  noisome  grottos  of  the  earth,  and  squeeze 
their  bodies  into  the  rough  and  narrow  clefts,  to  shield 
themselves  from  the  indignation  of  him  that  sits  upon  the 
throne,  and  of  the  Lamb. 

Those  who  '  once  were  so  tender  of  (his  mortal  life  and 
limbs,'  arid  could  not  think  of  bearing  the  least  hardship  for 
the  sake  of  virtue  and  piety,  are  now  wishing  to  have 
those  delicate  limbs  of  theirs  crushed  by  the  fall  of  rocks 
and  mountains.  They  wish  earnestly  to  have  their  lives 
and  their  souls  destroyed  for  ever,  and  their  whole  natures 
buried  in  desolation  and  death,  if  they  might  but  avoid  the 
eternal  agonies  and  torments  that  are  prepared  for  them. 
Now  they  long  for  caverns,  and  graves,  to  hide  them  for 
ever  from  the  justice  of  God,  whose  authority  they  have 
despised,  and  from  the  wrath  of  a  Saviour  whose  mercy 
they  have  impiously  renounced. 

Look  forward,  0  my  soul  !  to  this  awful  and  dreadful 
hour  ;  survey  this  tremendous  scene  of  confusion,  when 
sinners  shall  run  counter  to  all  their  former  principles  and 
wishes,  and  pass  a  quite  different  judgment  upon  their  sinful 
delights,  from  what  they  .were  wont  to  do  in  the  days  of 
this  life  of  vanity.  Learn,  0  my  soul  !  to  judge  of  things 
more  agreeably  to  the  appearances  of  that  day.  Never 
canst  thou  set  the  flattering  pleasures  of  sense,  and  the  joys 
of  sin,  in  a  truer  and  juster  view,  than  the  light  of  this  omi- 
nous and  tremendous  judgment. 

Refl.  3.  c  How  great  and  dreadful  must  the  distress  of- 
creatures  be,  when  they  cannot  bear  to  see  the  face  of  God 
their  Creator  ?'  How  terrible  must  be  the  circumstances  of 
the  sons  of  men,  when  they  cannot  endure  to  see  the  face 
of  the  Son  of  God,  but  would  fain  hide  themselves  from 
the  sight  under  rocks  and  mountains  ?  How  wretched  must 
their  state  be,  who  avoid  the  face  of  the  blessed  God  with 
horror,  which  the  holy  angels  ever  behold  with  most  in- 
tense delight,  and  which  the  saints  rejoice  in  as  their  high- 
est happiness  ?  It  is  their  heaven  to  see  God,  and  behold 
the  glory  of  his  Son  Jesus,  Matth.  v.  8.  John  xvii.  But 


THE  VAIN  REFUGE  OF  SINNERS.  '123 

this  is  the  very  hell  of  sinners  in  that  dismal  hour,  and 
will  fill  their  souls  with  such  inexpressible  anguish,  that 
they  call  to  the  rocks  and  mountains  to  hide  them  from 
the  sight.  Dreadful  and  deplorable  is  their  case  indeed, 
who  cannot  endure  to  see  the  countenance  of  Jesus  the 
Son  of  God,  Jesus  the  Saviour  of  men,  the  copy  of  the 
Father's  glory,  and  the  image  of  his  beauty  and  love. — 
They  cannot  bear  to  see  that  Jesus  who  is  the  chiefest  of  ten 
thousands,  and  altogether  lovely  ;  they  fly  from  that  blessed 
countenance,  which  is  the  ornament,  and  the  joy  of  all  the 
holy  and  happy  creation  ;  that  blessed  countenance  is  become 
the  terror  and  confusion  of  impenitent  and  guilty  rebels. 
.  And  what  shall  I  do,  if  I  should  be  found  among  this 
criminal  number,  in  that  great  day  ?  If  I  look  at  the  wis- 
dom and  the  righteousness  of  God,  these  will  reflect  the 
keenest  rays  of  horror  and  anguish  upon  my  soul,  for  it  is 
that  wisdom,  and  that  righteousness,  that  have  joined  to 
prepare  the  salvation  which  I  have  rejected  ;  and  therefore 
now  that  wise  and  righteous  God  seeth  it  proper  and  ne- 
cessary to  punish  me  with  everlasting  sorrows.  If  I  look 
at  the  power  of  God,  it  is  a  dreadful  sight.  Eternal  and 
almighty  power,  that  can  break  through  rocks  and  moun- 
tains, to  inflict  vengeance  upon  the  guilty,  and  that  stands 
engaged  by  his  honour  to  break  my  rebellious  spirit  with 
unknown  torments.  If  I  look  at  his  goodness  or  his  love, 
it  is  love  and  goodness  that  I  have  despised  and  abused,  and 
it  is  now  changed  into  divine  fury.  If  I  look  at  the  face 
of  Jesus,  and  find  there  the  correspondent  features  of  his 
Father,  I  shall  then  hate  to  see  it — for  this  very  reason, 
because  it  bears  his  Father's  image,  who  is  so  terrible  to 
my  thoughts.  I  shall  neither  be  able  to  bear  the  sight  of 
God  nor  of  his  fairest  copy,  that  is,  Jesus  his  Son,  because 
I  am  so  shamefully  unlike  them  both  ;  and  besides,  I  have 
affronted,  their  majesty,  and  despised  their  mercy. 

How  painful  and  smarting  will  be  the  reflection  of  my 
heart  in  that  day,  when  I  shall  remember,  that  Jesus  called 
out  to  me  from  heaven,  by  the  messengers  of  his  grace, 
and  said,  "  Behold  me,  behold  me,  look  unto  me  from  the 
ends  of  the  earth,  and  be  saved.  But  now  he  is  armed  with  a 
commission  of  vengeance,  and  he  strikes  terror  and  exquis- 
ite pain  into  my  soul  with  every  frown,  so  that  I  shall  wish 
to  be  forever  'hid  from  the  face  of  the  Lamb,  for  the  great 
day  of  his  wrath  is  come,  and  who  shall  be  able'  to  endure 


124  THE  VAIN  REFUGE  OF  SINNERS. 

this  wrath,  to  stand  before  his  thunder,  or  bear  the  light- 
ning of  this  day  ?  Alas,  how  miserable  must  I  be  by  an 
everlasting  necessity,  if  I  cannot  bear  the  countenance  of 
God  and  Christ,  which  is  the  spring  of  unchangeable  hap- 
piness to  all  the  saints  and  the  blessed  angels  ?  0 
may  I  timely  secure  the  love  of  my  God,  and  gain  an  in- 
terest in  the  favour  and  salvation  of  the  blessed  Jesus  ! 
Here,  0  Lord,  at  thy  foot  I  lay  down  all  the  weapons  of 
my  former  rebellions  ;  I  implore  thy  love  through  the  in- 
terest of  thy  Son,  the  great  Mediator.  Let  me  see  the 
light  of  thy  countenance,  and-  the  smiles  of  thy  face. — 
Let  me  see  a  reconciled  God,  and  let  him  tell  me  that  my 
sins  are  all  forgiven  ;  then  shall  I  not  be  afraid  to  meet  the 
countenance  of  him  that  sits  upon  the  throne,  or  the  Lamb, 
when  Christ  shall  return  from  heaven,  to  punish  the  im- 
penitent rebels  against  divine  grace. 

Refl.  4.  '  How  hopeless,  as  well  as  distressed,  is  the 
case  of  sinners  in  that  day,  when  they  are  driven  to  this 
last  extremity,  to  seek  help  from  the  rocks  and  the  moun- 
tains ?'  It  is  the  last,  but  the  fruitless  refuge  of  a  frighted 
and  perishing  creature.  The  rocks  and  mountains  refuse 
to  help  them  ;  they  will  not  crush  to  death  those  wretches, 
whom  the  justice  of  God  has  doomed  to  a  painful  immor- 
tality, nor  will  they  conceal  or  shelter  those  obstinate  re- 
bels, whom  the  Son  of  God  has  raised  out  of  their  graves, 
to  be  exposed  to  .  public  shame  and  punishment.  Those 
high  and  hollow  rocks,  those  dismal  dens  and  caverns, 
dark  as  midnight,  those  deep  and  gloomy  retreats  of  mel- 
ancholy and  sorrow,  which  they  shunned  with  the  utmost 
aversion,  and  could  hardly  bear  to  think  of,  without  hor- 
ror, here  on  earth,  are  now  become  their  only  retreat  and 
shelter  ;  but  it  is  a  very  vain  and  hopeless  one. 

When  I  see  such  awful  appearances  in  nature,  huge  and 
lofty  rocks  hanging  over  my  head,  and  at  every  step  of 
my  approach  they  seem  to  nod  upon  rne  with  overwhelm- 
ing ruin,  when  my  curiosity  searches  far  into  their  hollow 
clifts,  their  dark  and  deep  caverns  of  solitude  and  desola- 
tion, methinks  while  I  stand  amongst  them,  I  can  hardly 
think  myself  in  safety,  and  at  best  they  give  a  sort  of 
solemn  and  dreadful  delight.  Let  me  improve  the  scene 
to  religious  purposes,  and  raise  a  divine  meditation.  Am 
I  one  of  those  wretches,  who  shall  call  to  these  huge  im- 
pending rocks  to  fall  upon  me  ?  Am  I  that  guilty  and 


THE  VAIN  REFUGE  OF  SINNERS.  125 

miserable  creature,  who  shall  entreat  these  mountains  to 
cover  me  from  him  that  sits  on  the  throne  and  the  Lamb  ? 
Am  I  prepared  to  meet  the  countenance  of  the  blessed 
Jesus  the  Judge  in  that  day  ?  Have  I  such  an  acquain- 
tance with  the  Lamb  of  God  who  takes  away  the  sins  of 
the  world,  such  a  holy  faith  in  his  mediation,  such  a  sin- 
cere love  to  him,  and  such  an  unfeigned  repentance  of  sill 
my  sins,  that  I  can  look  upon  him  as  my  friend  and  my 
refuge,  and  a  friend  infinitely  better  than  rocks  and  moun- 
tains; for  he  not  only  screens  me  from  the  divine  anger, 
but  introduces  me  into  the  Father's  love  and  places  me 
in  his  blissful  presence  for  ever? 

Refl.  5.  'What  hideous   and    everlasting  mischief   is 
contained  in  the  nature  of  sin,  especially  sin  against  the 
gospel  of  Christ,  against  the  methods  of  grace,  and  the 
offers  of  salvation,  which  exposes  creatures  to  such  ex- 
treme distress  ?'     The  fairest  and  the  most  flattering  ini- 
quity, what  beautiful  colours  soever  it  may  put  on  in  the 
hour  of  temptation,  yet  it  carries  all  this  hidden  mischief 
and  terror  in  the  bosom  of  it,  for  it  frights  the  creature 
from  the  sight  of  his  Creator  and  his  Saviour,  and  makes 
him  fly  to  every  vain  refuge.     Adam  and  Eve,  the  par- 
ents of  our  race,  when  they  lost  their  innocence  and  became 
criminals,  fled  from  the  presence  of  God,  with  whom  they 
conversed  before  in  holy  friendship,  Gen.  iii.  8.     '  They 
hid  themselves  among  the   trees   of  Paradise,'   and  the 
thickest  shadows  of  the  garden  ;  but  the  eye  and  the  voice 
of  God  reached  them  there.     The  curse  found  them  out, 
though  that  was  a  curse  allayed  with  the  promised  bles- 
sing 'of  a  Saviour.     Guilt  will  work  in  the  conscience, 
and  tell  .us,  that '  God  is  angry,'  and  the  next  thought  is, 
'  where  shall  I  hide  myself  from  an  angry  God  ?'     But 
when  the  mercy  of  God  has  taught  us  where  we  may  hide 
ourselves,  even  under  the  shadow  of  the  cross  of  his  Son, 
and  we  refuse  to  make  him  our  refuge,  there  remains  no- 
thing but  a  final  horror  of  soul,  and  a  hopeless  address  to 
rocks  and  mountains,  to  hide  us  from  an  offended  God,  and 
p.  provoked  Saviour. 

Whensoever,  0  my  soul!  thou  shalt  find  or  feel  some 
nattering  iniquity  alluring  thy  senses,  making  court  to  thy 
heart,  and  ready  to  gain  upon  thy  inward  wishes,  remem- 
ber the  distress  and  terror  of  heart  that  sinners  must  under- 
go in  the  great  and  terrible  day  of  the  Lord.  Think  of 
1  2 


126  THE  VAIN  REFUGE  OF  SINNERS. 

the  rocks  and  mountains  which  they  vainly  call  upon  to 
befriend  them,  to  shield'them  from  the  vengeance  of  that 
almighty  arm  which  is  provoked  by  sin,  to  make  his  crea- 
tures miserable.  Remember,  0  my  soul!  and  fear;  re- 
member and  resist  the  vile  temptation,  and  stand  afar  off 
from  that  practice,  which  will  make  thee  afraid  to  see  the 
face  of  God. 

Refl.  6.  l  Of  what  infinite  importance  is  it  then  to  sin- 
ners, to  gain  a  humble  acquaintance  and  friendship  with 
the  Lamb  of  God,  who  takes  away  the  sins  of  the  world, 
that  we  may  be  able  with  comfort,to  behold  the  face  of  him 
that  sits  on  the  throne  in  that  day.'  Which  of  us  can 
say,  '  I"  am  not  a  sinner,  I  am  not  guilty  before  God  ?' 
And  which  of  us  then  has  the  courage  and  hardiness  to 
declare,  'I  have  no  need  of  a  Saviour?'  And  is  there 
any  one  among  us,  who  hath  not  yet  fled  for  refuge  to 
Jesus  our  only  and  sufficient  hope  ?  There  is  a  protec- 
tion provided  against  a  provoked  God,  but  there  is  none 
against  a  neglected  and  abused  Saviour  :  I  mean,  where 
this  neglect  and  abuse  is  final  and  unrepented  of.  0 
how  solicitous  should  every  soul  be,  in  a  matter  of  this 
divine  moment,  this  everlasting  importance  ?  What 
words  of  compassion  shall  we  use,  what  words  of  awake- 
ning terror,  to  put  sinners  in  mind  of  their  extreme  dan- 
ger, if  they  neglect  the  only  security  which  the  gospel  has 
appointed  ?  What  language  of  fear  and  importunity  shall 
we  make  use  of,  to  hasten  you,  0  sinners  !  to  the  acquain- 
tance, the  faith  and  the  love,  of  Jesus  the  Saviour,  that 
you  may  behold  his  face,  and  the  face  of  the  Father, 
with  serenity  and  joy  iu  the  last  day  ?  Give  yourselves 
jp  to  him  then  without  further  delay,  as  your  teacher, 
your  high-priest,  your  reconciler,  your  Lord  and  king. 
His  blessed  offices  are  the  only  chambers  of  protection, 
when  God  shall  arise  to  burn  the  world,  and  to  avenge  him- 
self on  his  enemies  that  will  not  be  reconciled. 

Refl.  7.  'Let  us  take  occasion  from  my  text,  also  to 
meditate  on  the  happy  circumstances  of  true  Christians, 
in  that  day  of  terror.'  Behold  the  Judge  appears,  he 
cometh  in  the  clouds  surrounded  with  armies  of  avenging 
angels,  the  ministers  of  his  indignation  ;  he  rideth  on  a 
chariot  of  flaming  fire,  the  earth  with  all  its  mountains 
melt  like  wax  at  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  the  fields  and 
the  forests  become  one  spacious  blaze,  the  sea  grows  dry 


THE  VAIN  REFUGE  OF  SINNERS.  127 

and  forsakes  its  shores,  and  rivers  flee  away  at  his  light- 
ning; the  rocks  are  broken  and  shivered  at  the  appear- 
ance of  his  majesty,  the  tombs  are  thrown  open,  and  with 
terrible  dismay  shall  the  graves  give  up  their  dead  ;  the  py- 
ramids of  brick  and  stone,  moulder  and  sink  into  dust,  the 
sepulchres  of  brass  and  marble  yield  up  their  royal  pris- 
oners, and  all  the  captives  of  death  awake  and  start  into 
life,  at  the  voice  of  the  Son  of  God.  Amidst  all  these 
scenes  of  surprise -and  horror,  with  how  serene  a  counte- 
nance, and  how  peaceful  a  soul,  do  the  saints  awake  from 
their  beds  of  earth  ?,  Calm  and  serene  among  all  these 
confusions  they  arise  from  their  long  slumber,  and  go  to 
meet  their  returning  Saviour  and  their  friend.  They 
have  seen  him  in  'the  glass  of  his  gospel,  submitted  to  his 
laws,  and  rejoiced  in  his  grace,  and  they  now  delight  to 
see  him  face  to  face  in  his  glory.  They  have  seen  him 
vested  with  his  commission  of  mercy,  they  have  heard 
and  received  his  message  of  goodness  and  love,  and  they 
cannot  but  rejoice  to  see  him  coming  to  fulfil  his  last  prom- 
ises. They  have  cheerfully  subjected  themselves  to  his 
government  here  on  earth,  they  have  followed  him  in 
paths  of  holiness  through  the  wilderness  of  this  world  ; 
and  what  remains,  but  that. they  be  publicly  acknowl- 
edged by  Jesus  the  Judge  of  all,  and  follow  him  up  to  the 
place  of  blessedness  which  he  hath  prepared  for  them. 

Perhaps  some  of  these  holy  ones,  in  the  days  of  the  flesh, 
were  banished  from  the  cities  and  the  societies  of  men  for 
the  sake  of  Christ,  they  were  driven  out  from  their  native 
towns,  and  forced  to  seek  a  shelter  in  solitary  'dens  and 
caves'  among  rocks  and  mountains,  "  to  wander  through 
deserts  in  sheep-skins  and  goat-skins,  destitute,  afflicted, 
tormented,"  Heb.  xi.  31.  They  made  the  clefts  of  the  rock 
and  caverns  of  the  earth  their  refuge  from  the  face  of  their 
cruel  persecutors.  The  mountains  and  rocks  sheltered 
them  from  the  wrath  of  princes,  and  the  dark  grottos  of 
the  earth,  and  the  dens  of  wild  beasts,  concealed  them  from 
the  rage  of  men,  from  the  sword  of  the  mighty  ;  but  now 
the  scene  is  gloriously  changed,  the  martyrs  and  holy  con- 
fessors awaking  from  their  graves,  exult  and  triumph  in 
the  smiles  of  their  Judge,  and  receive  public  honours  be- 
fore the  whole  creation  of  God.  They  behold  the  infinite 
consternation  of  haughty  tyrants  and  persecuting  princes, 
of  proud  generals  and  bloody  captains  in  that  day  :  they 


128  THE  VAIN  REFUGE  OF  SINNERS. 

hear  them  'call  to  rocks  and  mountains  to  hide  them  from 
the  face  of  him  that  sits  upon  the  throne  and  the  Lamb/ 
The  authority  and  regal  honour  of  the  emperors  of  the 
earth,  hath  long  slept  in  the  dust,  but  it  is  lost  there  for 
ever  ;  their  glory  shall  not  awake  nor  arise  with  them. 
Behold  the  mighty  sinners  who  have  been  the  enemies  of 
Christ,  or  negligent  of  his  salvation,  how  they  creep  af- 
frighted out  of  their  shattered  marbles,  and  leave  all  that 
pomp  and  pride  of  death  in  ruins,  to. appear  before  God 
with  shame  and  everlasting  contempt.  The  men  of  arms, 
the  captains  and  sons  of  valour,  whose  swords  lay  under 
their  heads,  with  their  trophies  and  titles  spread  around 
them,  shall  raise  their  heads  up  from  the  dust,  with  utmost 
affright  and  anguish  of  spirit :  their  courage  fails  them  be- 
fore the  face  of  Jesus  the  Lord  and  Judge  of  the  whole 
creation.  They  would  fly  to  the  common  refuge  of  slaves, 
they  shrink  into  the  holes  of  the  rocks,  and  call  to  the 
mountains  to  screen  and  protect  them  :  'and  every  bond- 
man, and  every  freeman,'  who  have  not  known  nor  loved 
God  and  Christ,  are  plunged  into  extremest  distress  ;  but 
the  humble  Christian  is  serene  and  joyful,  and  lifts  up  his 
head  with  courage  and  delight,  in  the  midst  of  these  scenes 
of  astonishment  and  dismay. 

1  He  is  come,  he  is  come,  saith  the  saint,  even  that  Lord 
Jesus,  whom  I  have  seen,  whom  I  have  known  and  loved 
in  the  days  of  my  mortal  life,  whom  I  have  long  waited 
for  in  the  dust  of  death ;  he  is  come  to  reward  all  my  la- 
bours, to  wipe  away  all  my  sorrows,  to  finish  my  faith, 
and  turn  it  into  sight,  to  fulfil  all  my  hopes  and  his  own 
promises  ;  he  is  come  to  deliver  me  for  ever,  from  all  my 
enemies,  and  to  bear  me  to  the  place  which  he  has  prepar- 
ed for  those  that  love  him,  and  long  for  his  appearance. 

'  0  blessed  be  the  God  of  grace,  who  hath  convinced 
me  of  the  sins  of  my  nature,  and  the  sins  of  my  life  in  the 
days  of  my  flesh ;  who  hath  discovered  to  me  the  danger 
of  a  guilty  and  sinful'state,  hath  shewn  me  the  commis- 
sion of  mercy  in  the  hands  of  his  Son,  hath  pointed  me  to 
the  Lamb  of  God,  who  was  offered  as  a  sacrifice  to  take 
away  the  sins  of  men,  and  hath  inclined  me  to  receive  him 
in  all  his  divine  characters  and  offices,  and  to  follow  the 
Captain  of  my  salvation  through  all  the  labours  and  dan- 
gers of  life.  I  have  trusted  him,  I  have  loved  him,  I  have 
endeavoured,  though  under  many  frailties,  to  honour  and 


THE  VAIN  REFUGE  OP  SINNERS.  129 

obey  him,  and  I  can  now  behold  his  face  without  terror. 
While  the  mighty  men  of  the  earth  tremble  with  amaze- 
ment, and  call  to  the  rocksand  mountains  to  hide  them  from 
his  face,  I  rejoice  to  see  him  in  his  robes  of  judgment,  for 
he  is  come  to  pronounce  me  righteous  in  the  face  of  men 
and  angels,  to  declare  me  a  good  and  faithful  servant  before 
the  whole  creation,  to  set  the  crown  of  victory  on  my 
head,  to  take  me  to  heaven  with  him,  that  'where  he  is  I 
may  be  also  to  behold  his  glory,'  and  to  partake  for  ever  of 
the  blessings  of  his  love.'  Amen. 


17 


DISCOURSE   VII. 


NO  NIGHT  IN  HEAVEN. 
REV.  xxii.  25.  And  there  shall  be  no  Night  there. 

LENGTH  of  night  and  overspreading  darkness  in  the 
winter  season,  carries  so  many  inconveniences  with  it,  that 
it  is  generally  esteemed  a  most  uncomfortable  part  of  our 
time.  Though  night  and  day  necessarily  succeed  each 
other  all  the  year,  by  the  wise  appointment  of  God  in  the 
course  of  nature,  by  means  of  the  revolution  of  the  hea- 
venly bodies,  or  rather  of  this  earthly  globe  ;  yet  the  night- 
season  is  neither  so  delightful  nor  so  useful  a  part  of  life, 
as  the  duration  of  day-light.  It  is  the  voice  of  all  nature, 
as  well  as  the  word  of  Solomon,  "  light  is  sweet,  and  a 
pleasant  thing  to  enjoy  the  sun-beams."  Light  gives  a 
glory  and  beauty  to  every  thing  that  is  visible,  and  shews 
the  face  of  nature  in  its  most  agreeable  colours  ;  but  night, 
as  it  covers  all  the  visible  world  with  one  ^ark  and  undistin- 
guishing  veil,  is  less  pleasing  to  all  the  animal  parts  of  the 
creation.  Therefore  as  hell  and  the  place  of  punishment 
is  called  '  utter  darkness'  in  Scripture ;  so  heaven  is  rep- 
resented as  a  mansion  of  '  glory,'  as  the ( inheritance  of  the 
saints  in  light.'  And  this  light  is  constant  without  inter- 
ruption, and  everlasting,  or  without  end.  So  my  text  ex- 
presses it,  '  there  shall  be  no  night  there.' 

Let  it  be  observed,  that  in  the  language  of  the  holy  wri- 
ters, '  light'  is  often  ascribed  to  intellectual  beings,  and  is 
used  as  a  metaphor  to  imply  'knowledge,  and  holiness,  and 
joy.'  'Knowledge'  as  the  beauty  and  excellency  of  the 
'mind,'  'holiness'  as  the  best  regulation  of  the  'will,'  and 
'joy'  as  the  harmony  of  our  best  affections  in  the  posses- 
sion of  what  we  love :  and  in  opposition  to  these,  '  igno- 
rance, iniquity,  and  sorrow,'  are  represented  by  the  meta- 
phor of  '  darkness.'  Then  we  are  in  '  darkness'  in  a  spi- 
ritual sense,  when  the  understanding  is  beclouded  or  led 

130 


NO  NIGHT  IN  HEAVEN.  131 

into  mistake,  or  when  the  will  is  perverted  or  turned  away 
from  God  or  holiness,  or  when  the  most  uncomfortable 
affections  prevail  in  the  soul.  I  might  cite  particular  texts 
of  Scripture  to  exemplify  all  this.  And  when  it  is  said, 
<  there  shall  be  no  night  in  heaven,'  it  may  be  very  well 
applied  in  the  spiritual  sense  ;  there  shall  be  no  errors  or 
mistakes  among  the  blessed,  no  such  ignorance  as  to  lead 
them  astray,  or  to  make  them  uneasy  ;  the  will  shall  ne- 
ver be  turned  aside  from  its  pursuit  of  holiness,  and  obedi- 
ence to  God  ;  nor  shall  the  affections  ever  be  ruffled  with 
any  thing  that  may  administer  grief  or  pain.  Clear  and 
unerring  knowledge,  unspotted  holiness,  and  everlasting 
joy,  shall  be  the  portion  of  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  upper 
world.  These  are  more  common  subjects  of  discourse. 

But  I  chuse  rather  at  present  to  consider  this  word 
NIGHT,  in  its  literal  sense,  and  shall  endeavour  to  repre- 
sent part  of  the  blessedness  of  the  heavenly  state,  under 
this  special  description  of  it.  (  There  is  no  night  there.' 

Now  in  order  to  pursue  this  design,  let  us  take  a  brief  sur- 
vey of  the  several  evils  or  inconveniences  which  attend  the 
night,  or  the  season  of  darkness  here  on  earth,  and  shew 
how  far  the  heavenly  world  is  removed,  and  free  from  all 
manner  of  inconvenience  of  this  kind. 

1.  Though  night  be  the  season  cf  sleep  for  the  relief  of 
nature,  and  for  our  refreshment  after  the  labours  of  the 
day  ;  yet ( it  is  a  certain  sign  of  the  weakness  and  weari- 
ness of  nature,  when  it  wants  such  refreshments,  and  such 
dark  seasons  of  relief.'  But  there  is  no  night  in  heaven. 
Say,  0  ye  inhabitants  of  that  vital  world,  are  ye  ever  wea- 
ry ?  Do  your  natures  know  any  such  weakness  ?  Or  are 
your  holy  labours  of  such  a  kind,  as  to  expose  you  to  fa- 
tigue, or  to  tire  your  spirits  ?  The  blessed  above  'mount  up 
towards  God  as  on  eagles'  wings,  they  run  at  the  command 
of  God  and  are  not  weary,  they  walk  on  the  hills  of  para- 
dise and  never  faint,'  as  the  Prophet  Isaiah  expresses  a  vig- 
orous and  pleasurable  state.  Chap.  xl.  ver.  last. 

There  are  no  such  animal  bodies  in  heaven,  whose  natural 
springs  of  action  can  be  exhausted  or  weakened  by  the 
business  of  the  day  :  there  is  no  flesh  and  blood  there,  to 
complain  of  weariness,  and  to  want  rest*  0  blessed  state, 

*  When  the  apostle,  1  Cor.  xv.  60,  says,  "  Flesh  and  blood  cannot  inher- 
it the  kingdom  of  God,"  the  meaning  is  that  moral  pravity ,  a  fallen  and  cor- 
rupt nature,  cannot  We  have  no  precise  instruction  concerning  the  nature 


132  NO  NIGHT  IN  HEAVEN. 

where  our  faculties  shall  be  so  happily  suited  to  our  work,  that 
we  shall  never  feel  ourselves  weary  of  it,  nor  fatigued  by  it. 

And,  as  there  is  no  weariness,  so  there  is  no  sleeping 
there.  Sleep  was  not  made  for  the  heavenly  state.  Can 
the  spirits  of  the  just  ever  sleep,  under  the  full  blaze  of  di- 
vine glory,  under  the  incessant  communications  of  divine 
love,  under  the  perpetual  influences  of  the  grace  of  God 
the  Father,  and  of  Jesus  the  Saviour,  and  amidst  the  invi- 
ting confluence  of  every  spring  of  blessedness  ? 

2.  Another  inconvenience  of  night,  near  akin  to  the 
former,  is  that  '  business  is  interrupted  by  it,  partly  for 
want  of  light  to  perform  it,  as  well  as  for  want  of  strength 
and  spirits  to  pursue  it.'  This  is  constantly  visible  in  the 
successions  of  labour  and  repose  here  on  earth  ;  and  the 
darkness  of  the  night  is  appointed  to  interrupt  the  course 
of  laborr,  and  the  business  of  the  day,  that  nature  may  be 
recruited.  But  the  business  of  heaven  is  never  interrupt- 
ed ;  there  is  everlasting  light  and  everlasting  strength.  Say, 
yeblessed  spirits  on  high,  who  join  in  the  services  which  are 
performed  for  God  and  the  Lamb  there,  ye  who  unite  all 
your  powers  in  the  worship  and  homage  that  is  paid  to  the 
Father  .and  to  the  Son,  ye  that  mingle  in  all  the  joyful  con- 
versation of  that  divine  and  holy  Assembly,  say,  is  there 
found  any  useless  hour  there  ?  Do  your  devotions,  your 
duties  and  your  joys,  ever  suffer  such  an  entire  interrup- 

of  our  bodies  after  the  resurrection.  Our  Lord's  body  after  his  resurrection 
had  still  the  same  physical  constitution  apparently,  which  it  always  had. 
When  his  disciples  were  terrified,  supposing  that  they  saw  an  apparition, 
he  shewed  them  his  body,  and  feet,  told  them  to  feel  or  handle  him,  and  ad- 
ded, "  For  a  spirit  hath  not  flesh  and  bones,  as  ye  see  me  have."  Luke 
xxiv.  39.  Now,  we  are  told,  that  Jesus  will  "  change  our  vile  body,  that 
it  may  be  fashioned  like  unto  his  glorious  body,"  Phil.  iii.  21.  If  then  he 
still  possess  the  same  body  in  glory  with  which  he  rose,  and  if  it  be  of 
the  same  materials  as  then;  it  will  follow,  that"  flesh  and  blood,"  in  the 
physical  sense  of  the  phrase,  may  enter  into  the  heavenly  state  ;  but  it  will 
be  flesh  and  blood  purified  from  all  its  present  infirmities,  and  endued 
with  every  quality  to  render  it  a  delightful  habitation  for  thi>.  blessed  soul  in 
the  worship  and  enjoyments  of  heaven.  God  can  as  easily  render  a  body 
of  flesh  and  blood  immortal  as  any  other  kind  of  body.  Still  we  have  no 
assurance  of  what  kind  it  will  be;  for  we  are  not  certain  that  no  change 
passed  upon  our  Lord's  body,  when  he  ascended  to  heaven.  It  would 
therefore  seem  wise  not  to  attempt  to  define  or  deny  what  the  holy  Scriptures 
do  not  define  or  deny.  Whatever  the  bodies  of  glorified  saints  may  be,  they 
will  not  be  subject  to  weariness,  or  any  other  painful  sensation.  They  will  be 
instruments  of  utility  and  pleasure,  not  clogs  and  hindrances  ;  and  to  know 
this,  seems  sufficient  for  \a  iu  our  present  sUte.— KB. 


NO  NIGHT  IN  HEAVEN.  133 

tion  of  rest  and  silence,  as  the  season  of  darkness  on  earth 
necessarily  creates  among  the  inhabitants  of  our  world  ? 

The  living  creatures  *  which  are  represented  by  John 
the  Apostle,  in  Rev.  ~iv.  whether  they  signify  saints  or 
angels,  yet  .they  were  'full  of  eyes'  that  never  slumber  ; 
<they  rest  not  day  nor  night ;'  this  is  spoken  in  the  lan- 
guage of  mortals,  to  signify,  that  they  are  never  irjterrupt- 
ed  by  any  change  of  seasons,  or«jintervening  darkness  in 
the  honours  they  pay  to  God.  They  are  described  as  ever 
saying,  "Holy,  holy,  holy,  Lord  God  Almighty,  who  was, 
and  is,  an.d-is.to  come."  And  the  same  soft  of  expression 
is  used  concerning  the  saints  in  heaven,'  Rev.  vii.  15. — 
"  They  who  came  out  of  great  'tribulation,  and  have  wash- 
e'd  their  robes,  and  made  them  white  in  the  blood  of  the 
Lamb,  feheji  are  before  the  throne  of  God,  and  serve  him 
day  and  night  in  his  temple,"  i.  e.  they  constantly  serve  or 
worship  "him  in  his  holy  temple1  in  heaven.  Perhaps  the 
different  orders  and  ranks  of  them  in  a  continual  succes- 
sion, are  ever*  doing  some  honours  to  God.  As  there  is 
no  night  there,  so  there  is  no  cessation  <3f  their  services, 
their  worship,  and  their  holy  exercises,  in  one  form  or 
anpther,  throughout  the  duration  of  their.being. 

Our  pleasures  here  on  earth  \ire  short-lived :  if  they 
are  intense,  nature  cannot  bear  them  long,  any  .more  than 
constant  business  and  labour  :  and,  if  our  labours  and  pur 
pleasures  should  happily  .join  and  mingle  here  on  earth, 
which  is  not  abvays  the  case,  yet  njght  compels  us  to  break 
off  the  pleas'vng  labour,  and  we  must  rest  from  the  most  de- 
lightful business.  Happy  is  that  region  on  high,  where 
business -and  pleasure  are  for  ever  the  same  among  all  the 
inhabitants  of  itj  and  there  is.no  pause. or  entire  cessation 
of  the  one  or -the  other.  Tell  me,  ye- warm  and  lively 
Christians,  when  your  hearts»are  Sweetly  and  joyfully  engag- 
ed in-the  worship  of  God,  in  holy  conversation,  or  in  any 
pious  services  here  on  earth,  hftw  often  you  have  been  forc- 
ed to  break  off  these  celestial  entertainments  by  the  re- 
turning night  ?  But  in  th*e  heavenly  state  there  is  ever- 
ladling  active  service,  with  everlasting  delight  and  satis- 
faction. 

In  that  blessed  world  there  can  be  ho'  idleness,  no  in- 

The  word  ZJk,  which  is  translated  beasts,  signifies  only  animals  or 
living  creatures,  and  does  not  carry  with  it  so  mean  and  BO  disagreeable  an 
idea  as  the  word  beasts  in  Englith.— WATTS. 

M 


134  NO  NIGHT  IN  HEAVEN. 

activity,  no  trifling  intervals  to  pass  away  time,  no  vacant 
or  empty  spaces  in  eternal  life.  Who  can  be -idle  under 
the  immediate  eye  of  God  ?  Who  can  trifle  in  the  pres- 
ence of  Christ  ?  Who  can  neglect  the' pleasurable  work  of 
heaven,  under  the  sweet  influences  of  the  present  Deity, 
and  under  the  smiles  of  his  countenance",  who  approve's  all 
their  work  and  worship  ?  • 

3.  As.  in  our  present  World  '  the,  hours  of  night'  are  un- 
active  if  we  sleep,  so  'they  seem  long  and  tedious  when 
our  eyes  are  wakeful,  and  sleep  flies  fro'm  us.'  Perhaps. we 
hear  the  clock  strike  .one  hour  after  another,  with  weari- 
some longings  for  the  next  succeeding  h'oil'r :  we  wish  the 
dark  season  at  an  end*,  and  «iv"e  long  for  th'e  approa«h  of  mor- 
ning, we  grow  impatient  for  the  dawning  of  the  day.  But  in 
heaven,  ye  spirits  who  have  dwcltlongest  there*,  can  ye  re- 
member one  tiresome  or  tedjous  hour,  through  all  the  years 
of  your  residence  in  thatcouritry  ?  Jsthercmot  eternal  wake- 
fulness  among  all  the  blessed  ?  Gan  any  of  yon  ever  indulge 
a  slumber  ?  Can  you  sleep  in  heaven  ?  Can  you  want  it,  or 
wish  for  it  ?  No,  for  that  world  is  all  vital  and  sprightly 
for  ever.  Wben  we  leave  this  flesh  and  bloody-farewell  to' 
all  the /tedious  measures  of  time,  farewell  tiresome,  dark- 
ness; our  whole  remaining  duratio/i  is  life  and  light,  vital  ac- 
tivity and  vigour,  attenfled  with  everlasting  holiness-andjoy. 

4.  While  we  are  here  en,  earth,  '  the  darkness  df  the 
night  often  exposes  us  to  the  danger  of  losirtg*  our  way,  of 
wandering  into  confusjon,  or  falling  into  mischief.'  When 
the  sun-"beams  have  withdrawn  their  light,  -and  midnight 
clouds  overspread  .the  heaven,  we  cannot  see  eur  path  be- 
fore us,  we  eannot  pursue  our  proper  course,  not  secure 
ourselves  from  stumbling...  «How  ma"ny  "travellers  have 
been  betrayed  by  the  thick  shadows  of  the  night,  into  mis- 
taken ways  or  pathless  'deserts^  intr^  endless  mazes  among 
thorns  and  briars,  into  bogs,  and  pits,  and  precipices,*  into 
sudden  destruction  and  death'?  But  there"  arc  no 'dangers 
of  this  kind  in  the  heavenly,  world.  All  the  regions  of" 
paradise  are  for  ever  illurninated  by  the  gfory  of  God  :  the 
light  of  his  countenance  shines  upon  every  step  that  We 
shall  take,  and  brightens, all  our  way.  We  shall  walk  in 
the  light  of  God,  and  under  the  blessed  beams  of  the  Sun 
of  righteousness,  and  'we  are  secured'  for  ever  against  wan- 
dering, and  against  every  danger  of  tripping  or  falling  in 
our  course.  '  Our  feet  may  stumble  on  the  dark  moun- 


NO  NIGHT  IN  HEAVEN.  135 

tains  here  below,'  but  there  is  TIO  stumbling-block  on  the 
hills  of  paradise,  nor  can  we  go  astray  from  our  God  or 
our  duty.  The  paths  of  that  country  are  -all  pleasure,  and 
ever-living  ckiy-light  shines  upon  them  without  end.  Hap- 
'py  beings  who  dwell  or  travel  there ! 

5.  'In  the* night  we"  are  exposed  here  on  earth,  to  the 
violence  and  plunder  of  wicked  men,  whether  we  are 
abroad  or  at  home.'  There  is  scarce  any  safety  now  a-days 
to  those  who  travel  in  the  night,  and  even  in  our  own  ha- 
bitations there  is  frequent  Tear  and  surprise.  At  that  sea- 
son, the  sons  of  mischief  '  dig  through  houses  in  the  dark, 
which  they  had.  marked  for 'themselves  in  the  day-time  : 
they  lurk  in  corners  to  seize  the  innocent,  and  to  rob  him' 
of  his  possessions.  But  in  the  heavenly  world  there  is  no 
dark  hour  ;  there  is  nothing  that  can  encourage  such  mis- 
chievous designs  ;  nor  are  any  of"  the  sons  of  violence,  or 
the  malicious  powers  of  darkness,  suffered  to  have  an  abode 
or  refuge  .in  that  country.  No  surprise  nor  fear-  belongs 
to-  the  inhabitants  of  those  regions.  Happy  souls,  who 
spend  all  their  life  in  the  fight  of  the  countenance  of  God, 
and  are  for  ever  secure  from  the  plots  and  mischievous 
devices  .of  the  wicked  ! 

"While  we  dwell  here  below,  amongst  the  changing  sea- 
sons of  light  and  darkness,  what  daily  care  is  taken  to  shut 
the  doors  of  our  dwellings  against  the  men  of  mischief? 
What  solicitude  in  a  time -of  war  to  keep  the  gates  of  our 
towns  and  cities  well  secured  against  all  invasion  of  ene- 
mies !  ( Every  rmm  with  has.  s\voi»d  upon  his  thigh,  be- 
cause of  fear  in  the  night/  But  in  that  blessed  world 
there  is  up  n.eed-of'such  defences^  no  such  guardian  cafes 
to  secure  the.  inhabitants,  <  The  ,gates  of  that  city  shall 
not  be  sJuit  by  day,  and  there  is  no  night  there.'*  There 
shines  perpetual  day -light,,  and  the  gates  are  ever  open  to 
receive  newcomers  from  our  World,  or  for  the. conveyance 
of  oJxUirs'and  messages  to  and,  fro  from  the  throne  through 
all  the  dominions  of  Go/1  and  of  th.e  Lanib.  Blessed  are  the 
inhabitants  of  triat  country,  where  there  are  no  dangers 
arising  from  any  of  the  wicked  powers  of  darkness,  nor 
any  dJrk  'minute  to  favour  their  plots  of  mischief. 

fj.  The  'time  of  -night  and  darkness  is  the  time  of  the 
concealment  of  secret  sins.'  Shameful  iniquities  are  then 
practised  amongst  men,  because  the  darkness  is  a  cover  to 
them.  "  The  eye  of  the  adulterer  watches  for  the  twilight, 


136  NO  NIGHT  IN  HEAVEN. 

saying,  no  eye  shall  see  me."  Job  xxiv.  15.  <  In  the  black 
and  dark  night'  he  hopes  for  concealment  as  well  as  th"e 
thief  and  the  rrftfrderer,  "and  they  that  are  -drunken,  are- 
drunken  in  the  night,"  Thes.  v.  7.  The 'hours  of  dark- 
ness are  a  temptation  to  these  iniquities,  and  the  shadows 
of  the  evening  .arc'a  veil  to  cover  them 'from  the  sight  of 
men  :  they  find  a  screen  behind  the  curtains  of  the  night, . 
and  a  refuge  in  thick  darkness.  But.in  the'heavenly  world 
there  is  no  temptation  to  such  iniquities,  no  defilement  can 
gain  an  entrance  there,  nor  could  i$  find  "any  veil  or  cov- 
ering. The  regions  of  light,  and  peace^and  holy  love, 
arc  never  violated  with  such  scenes  of  villany  and  guilt. 
No  secret  sins  can  be  committed  there,  nor  can  they  hope 
for  any  screen  to  defend  them  from  the  eye  of  God  'atnd 
the  Lamb,  'whose  eyes  are -like  a  flame  of  fire.'  The 
light  of  God  shines  round  every  creature  in  that  country, 
and  there  is  not  a  saint  or  angel  there,  that  desires  a  cov- 
ering from  the  sight  of  God,  nor  would  accept -of  a  veil  or 
screen  to  interpose  between  him  and  the  lovely  gloriesL'of 
divine  holiness  and  grace.  To  behold  God,  and  to  live 
under  the  blessings  of  his  eye1,  is  their  everlasting  and  cho- 
sen joy.  0  that  our  world  were  more  like  it  ? 

7.  When  the  night  returns  upon. us  here  on  earth,  '  the 
pleasures  of  sight  vanish  and  are  lost.'  Knowledge"  is  shut 
out  at  one  eptrance  in  a  great  degree,  "and  one  of  our  sen- 
ses is  withheld  from  the  spreading  beauties  and  glories  oi 
this  lower  creation,  almost  as  though  we  were  deprived 
of  it,  and  were  grown  blind  for  a  season. 

It  is  true,  the  God  of  nature  has  appointed  the  moon 
and  stars  to  relieve  the  darkness  at  some^seasons/that  when 
the  sun  is  withdrawn,  half  the.  world  at  those  hours  may 
not  be  in  confusion':  and  by  the  inventions  of  men,*we 
are  furnished  with  lamps  and  candles  to  relieve  our  dark- 
ness within  doors.  But  if  we  stir  abroad  in  the  black  and 
dark  night,  instead  of  the  various  and  delightful  scenes  of 
the  creation  of  God  in  the  skies  and  the  fields,  we  are  pre- 
sented with  an  universal  blank  of  nature,  and  one  of  the 
great  entertainments  and  satisfactions  of 'this  life,  i^' quite 
taken  away  from, us.  But  in  heaven,  the  glories  of  that 
world  are  for  ever  in  view.  The  beauteous  scenes  and 
prospects  of  the  'hills  of  paradise  are  never  hidden  :  we 
shall  there  continually  behold  a  ricfi  variety  of  '  things 
which  eye  hath  not  seen  on  earth,  which  ear  hath  not 


NO  NIC  HT  IN  HEAVEN.  137 

heard,  and  which  the  he;irt  of  man  hath  not  conceived.' 
Say,  ye  souls  in  paradise,  ye  inhabitants  of  that  glorious 
world,  is  there  any  loss  of  pleasure  by  your  absence  from 
those  works  of  God  which  are  visible  here  on  earth,  while 
you  are  for  ever  entertained  with  those  brighter  works  of 
God  in  the  upper  world  ?  while  every  corner  of  that  coun- 
try is  enlightened  by  the  glory  of  God  himself,  and  while 
the  Son  of  God  with  all  his  beams  of  grace  shines  for  ever 
upon  it. 

8.  It  is  another  unpleesing  circumstance  of  the  night 
season,  '<  that  it  is  the  coldest  part  of  time.'  When  the 
sun  is  sunk  below  the  earth,  and  its  beams  are  hidden  from 
us,  its  kindly  and  vital  heat,  as  well  as  its  light,  are  re- 
moved from  one  side  of  the  globe  ;  and  this '  gives  a  sen- 
sible uneasiness  in  the  hours  of  midnight,  to  those  who  are 
not  well  provided  with  warm  accommodations. 

And  I  might  add  also,  it  is  too  often  night  with  us  in  a 
spiritual  sense,  while  we  dwell  here  on  earth  :  our  hearts 
are  cold  as  well  as  dark.  How  seldom  do  we  feel  that 
fervency  of  spirit  in  religious  duties  which  God  requires  ? 
How  cool  is  our  love  to  the  greatest  and  the  best  of  be- 
ings ?  How  languid  and  indifferent  are  our  affections  to 
the  Son  of  God,  the  chiefest  of  ten  thousand,  and  altogeth- 
er lovely  ?  And  how  much  doth  the  devotion  of  our  souls 
want  its  proper  ardour  and  vivacity  ? 

But  when  the  soul  is  arrived  at  heaven,  we  shall  be  all 
warm  and  fervent  in  our  divine  and  delightful  work.  As 
there  shall  be  nothing  painful  to  the  senses  in  that  blessed 
climate,  so  there  shall  not  be  one  cold  heart  there,  nor  so 
much  as  one  lukewarm  worshipper  ;  for  we  shall  live  un- 
der the  immediate  rays  of  God  who  formed  the  light,  and 
under  the  kindest  influences  of  'Jesus,  the  Sun  of  righte- 
ousness.' We  shall  be  made  like  his  angels  who  are  most 
active  spirits,  and  '  his  ministers'  who  "are  flames  of  fire." 
Psal.  civ.  3.  Nor  shall  any  dulness  or  indifferency  hang 
.upon  our  sanctified  powers  and  passions  :  they  shall  be  all 
warm  and  vigorous  in  their  exercise,  amidst  the  holy  en- 
joyments of  that  country. 

In  the  9th  and  last  place,  as  njght  is  the  season  appoint- 
ed for  sleep,  '  so  it  becomes  a  constant  periodical  emblem 
of  death,  as  it  returns  every  evening.'  Sleep  and  mid- 
night, as  I  have  shewn  before,  are  no  seasons  of  labour  or 
activity,  nor  of  delight  in  the  visible  things  of  this  world. 
18  M  * 


138  NO  MGHT  IN  HEAVEN. 

It  is  a  dark  and  stupid  scene  wherein  we  behold  nothing 
with  truth,  though  we  are  sometimes  deceived  and  delud- 
ed by  dreaming  visions  and  vanities.  Night,  and  the 
slumbers  of  it,  are  a  sort  of  shorter  death  and  burial,  inter- 
posed between  the  several  daily  scenes  and  transactions  of 
human  life.  But  in  heaven,  as  there  is  no  sleeping,  there 
is  no  dying,  nor  is  there  any  thing  there  that  looks  like 
death.  Sleep,  the'image  or  emblem  of  death,  is  for  ever 
banished  from  that  world.  All  is  vital  activity  there  : 
every  power  is  immortal,  and  every  thing  that  dwells  there 
is  for  ever  alive.  There  can  be  no  death,  nor  the  image 
of  it,  where  the  ever-living  God  dwells  and  shines  with 
his  kindest  beams  ;  his  presence  maintains  perpetual  vital- 
ity in  every  soul,  and  keeps  the  new  creature  in  its  youth 
and  vigour  for  ever.  The  saints  shall  never  have  reason 
to  mourn  over  their  withering  graces,  languid  virtues,  or 
dying  comforts  ;  nor  shall  they  ever  complain  of  drowsy 
faculties,  or  unactive  powers,  where  God  and  the  Lamb 
are  forever  present  in  the  midst  of  them.  Shall  I  invite 
your  thoughts  to  dwell  a  little  upon  this  subject  ? 

Shall  we  make  a  more  particular  '  enquiry,  whence  it 
comes  to  pass  that  there  is  no  night  nor  darkness  in  the 
heavenly  city?'  We  arc  told  a  little  before  the  words  of 
my  text,  that  'the  glory  of  God  enlightens  it,  and  the 
Lamb  is  the  light  thereof.  There  is  no  need  of  the 
sun  by  day,  or  of  the  moon  by  night ;'  there  is  no  need 
of  any  such  change  of  seasons  as  day  and  night  in  the  up- 
per regions,  nor  any  such  alternate  cnlighteners  of  a  dark 
world,  as  God  has  placed  in  our  firmanent,  or  in  this  vis- , 
ible  sky.  The  inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light  is  suffi- 
ciently irradiated  by  God  himself,  who  at  his  first  call 
made  the  light  spring  up  out  of  darkness  over  a. wide  cha- 
os of  confusion,  before  the  sun  and  moon  appeared  ;  and 
the  beams  of  divine  light,  grace  and  glory,  are  communi- 
cated from  God,  the  original  foundation  of  it,  by  the  Lamb, 
to  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  heavenly  country.  It  was 
by  Jesus  his  Son  that  God  made  the  light  at  first,  and  by 
him  he  conveys  it  to  all  the  happy  worlds. 

There  is  no  doubt  of  this  in  the  present  heaven  of 
saints  departed  from  flesh,  who  are  ascended  '  to  the 
spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect.'  It  is  one  of  their  privi- 
leges that  they  go  to  dwell,  not  only  where- they  see  the 
face  of  God,  but  where  they  behold  the  glory  of  Christ, 


NO  NIGHT  Itf  HEAVEN,  139 

and  converse  with  '  Jesus  the  Mediator  of  the  new  cove- 
nant,' and  are  'for  ever  present  with  the  Lord'  who  re- 
deemed them.  Heb.  xii.  23,  24.  2  Cor.  v.  8.  Since 
his  mediatorial  kingdom  and  offices  are  not  yet  finished  in 
the  present  heaven  of  separate  souls,  we  may  depend  on 
this  blessedness  to  be  communicated  through  Christ  the 
Lamb  of  God,  and  all  the  spiritual  enjoyments  and 
felicities  which  are  represented  under  the  metaphor 
of  'light,'  are  conveyed  to  them  through  Jesus  the 
Mediator. 

The  sun,  in  the  natural  world,  is  a  bright  emblem  of 
divinity,  or  the  Godhead,  for  it  is  the  spring  of  all  light, 
and  heat,  and  life,  to  the  creation.  It  is  by  the  influences 
of  the  sun,  that  herbs,  plants,  and  animals,  are  produced 
in  their  proper  seasons,  and  in  all  their  various  beauties, 
and  they  are  all  refreshed  and  supported  by  it.  Now  if 
we  should  suppose  this  vast  globe  of  fire  which  we  call 
'  the  sun,'  to  be  inclosed  in  a  huge  hollow  sphere  of  crys- 
tal, which  should  attemper  its  rays  like  a  transparent  veil, 
and  give  milder  and  gentler  influences  to  the  burning  beams 
of  it,  and  yet  transmit  every  desirable  and  useful  portion 
of  light  or  heat,  this  would  be  an  happy  emblem  of  the 
man  'Christ  Jesus,  in  whom  dwells  all  the  fulness  of  the 
Godhead  bodily.'  It  is  the  Lamb  of  God  who,  in  a 
mild  and  gracious  manner,  conveys  the  blessings  original- 
ly derived  from  God  his  Father  to  all  the  saints.  We  par- 
take of  them  in  our  measure  in  this  lower  world  among 
his  churches  here  on  earth  ;  but  it  is  with  a  nobler  influ- 
ence, and  in  a  more  sublime -degree,  the  blessings  of  par- 
adise are  diffused  through  nil  the  mansions  of  glory,  by 
this  illustrious  medium  'of  conveyance,  Jesus  the  Son  of 
God  ;  and  there  can  be  no  night  nor  coldness,  death  nor 
darkness,  in  this  happy  state  of  separate  souls. 

When  the  bodies  of  the  saints  shall  be  raised  again,  and 
re-united  to  their  proper  spirits,  when  they  shall  ascend 
to  the  place  of  their  final  heaven  and  supreme  happiness, 
we  know  not  what  manner  of  bodies  they  shall  be,  what 
sort  of  senses  they  shall  be'  furnishjed  with,  nor  how  ma- 
ny powers  of  conversing  with  the  corporeal  world  shall 
be  bestowed  Upon  them.  Whether  they  shall  have  such 
organs  of  sensation  as  eyes  and  ears,  and  stand  in  need 
of  such  light  as  we  derive  from  the  sun  or  moon,  is  not  ab- 
solutely certain.  The  Scriptures  tell  us  it  shall  not  be  a 


140  NO  NIGHT  IN  HEAVEN. 

body  of  flesh  and  blood.*  These-are  not  materials  refined 
enough  for  the  heavenly  state  ;  "  that  which  is  corrupti- 
ble cannot  inherit  incorruption."  1  Cor.  xv.  50.  But 
this  we  may  be  assured  of,  that  whatsoever  inlets  of 
knowledge,  whatever  avenues  of  pleasure,  whatever  de- 
lightful sensations  are  necessary  to  make  the  inhabitants 
of  that  world  happy,  they  shall  be  all  united  in  that  spir- 
itual body  which  God  will  prepare  for  the  new-raised 
saints.  If  eyes  and  ears  shall  belong  to  that  glorified  bo- 
dy, those  sensitive  powers  shall  be  nobly  enlarged,  and 
made  more  delightfully  susceptive  of  richer  shares  of 
knowledge  and  joy. 

Or  what  if  we  shall  have  that  body  furnished  with  such 
unknown  mediums,  or  organs  of  sensation,  as  shall  make 
light  and  sound,  such  as  we  here  partake  of,  unnecessary 
to  us  ?  These  organs  shall  certainly  be  such,  as  shall 
transcend  all  the  advantages  that  we  receive  in  this  pre- 
sent state  from  sounds  or  sunbeams.  There  shall  be  no 
disconsolate  darkness,  nor  any  tiresome  silence  there. 
There  shall  be  no  night  to  interrupt  the  business  or  pleas- 
ures of  that  everlasting  day. 

Or  what  if  the  whole  body  shall  be  endued  all  over 
with  the  senses  of  seeing  and  hearing"!  What  if  these  sorts 
of  sensations  shall  be  diffused  throughout  all  that  immor- 
tal body,  as  feeling  is  diffused  through  all  our  present  mor- 
tal flesh  ?  What  if  God  himself  shall  in  a  more  illustri- 
ous manner  irradiate  all  the  powers  of  the  body  and  spi- 
rit, and  comruunicate  the  light  of  knowledge,  holiness,  and 
joy,  in  a  superior  manner  to  what  we  can  now  conceive 
or  imagine  ?  This  is  certain,  that  darkness  in  every  sense, 
with  all  the  inconveniences  and  unhappy  consequences  of 
it,  is  and  must  be  for  ever  banished  from  the  heavenly 
state.  ;  There  is  no  night  there.' 

When  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  shall  have  "  given  up  his" 
mediatorial  kingdom  to  the  Father,  "  and  have"  presented 
all  his  saints  spotless  and  without  blemish  before  his  throne, 
it  is  hard  for  us  mortals  in  the  present,  state,  to  say  how 
far  he  shall  be  the  everlasting  medium  of  the  communica- 
tion of  divine  blessings  to  the  happy  inhabitants  on  high. 

*  See  note  on  page  131.  Flesh  and  blood,  or  in  other  words,  our  bodies, 
are  corruptible  in  this  state  of  sin  and  death.  But  the  bodies  of  our  first 
parents,  before  the  fall,  were  not  subject  to  corruption.  It  does  not  follow, 
therefore,  that  u  body  of  flesh  and  blood  must  necessarily  be  corruptible.—  ED. 


NO  NIGHT  IN  HEAVEN.  141 

Yet  when  we  consider  that'the  saints  -and  angels,  and  the 
whole  happy  creation,  are  gathered  together  in  him  as 
their  head*  it  is  certain  they  shall  all  be  accounted  in  some 
sense  'his  members  ;'  and  it  is  highly  probable  that  he,  as 
their  head,  shall  be  for -ever  active  in  communicating  and 
diffusing  the  unknown  blessings  of  that  -world,  amongst 
all  the  inhabitants  of  it  who  are  gathered  .and"  united  in 
him.' 

I  come  in  the  last  place,  to  m'tfke  a  fe^  remarks  upjon 
the  f  o  re  go  ing^i  sco  urse,  and  in  order  to  Vender  them  more 
effectual  for  o«r  -spiritual  advantage,  I  shall  consider  the 
words.bf  my  text,  'there*  shall  be  no  night  there/  in  their 
metaphorical  or  spiritual  meaning,  as  well,  as  m  their  lite- 
ral sense.  There  is  no  night  of  ignorance  or  error  in  the 
mind,  -no  night  of  guik  or  of  Sorrow  in  the  soul  :  but  the 
blessed  above  shall  dwell  surrounded  with 'the  light  of  di- 
vine knowledge,  they  shall  walk  in  the  light  of  holiness, 
and  they  shall  be  forever  filled  with  the  light  of  consola- 
tion and  joy,  as  I  have  explained  it  at»the  beginning  of  this 
discourse^ 

The  1st  remark  then  is  this,  <  When  heaven,  earth  and 
hell,  are  compared  together,  with  relation  'to  light  and 
darkness,  or  night  and  day,'  we  then-  see  them  in  their 
proper  distinctions  and  aspects.  Every  thing  is  s<;t  in  its 
most  distinguishing  situation  and  appearance,  when  it  is 
compared  with  things  which  are  most  ppposite. 

The  earth  on  whicji  we  dwell  during  this  state  of  trial, 
has  neither  all  day  nor  all  night  belonging*  to  it,  but  some- 
times light  appears,  and  again  darkness,  whether  in  a  nat- 
ural or  a  spiritual  sense.  *  . 

Though  there  be  long  seasons  of  darkness  in  the  winter, 
and  darkness  in  the  summer  also,  in  its  constant  returns, 
divides  one  day  from  another  ;  yet'the  -God  of  nature  has 
given  us  a  larger  portion'  of  light  than  there  i^  of  darkness, 
throughout  the  whole  gidbe  of  the  rarlh.  And  this  bene- 
fit we  recejve  by  the  remaining  beams  of  the  sun  after  its 
setting,  aftd"  by  the  assistance  of  the  moon  and  the  stars  of 
•  heaven.  -Blessed  be  God  for  the  moon  and  stars,  as  well 
as  for  the  sun-beams  and  the  brightness  of  noon.  Blessed 
be  God  for  all  the  lights  of  nature  ;  but  we  still  bless  him 


*  The  Greek  word  dtautt^<u,suu»,  used  in  Eph.  i.  10.  favours  this  mean- 
ing, and  perhaps  Col.  i.  10.  includes  the  same  thing. 


"     * 


142  NO  NIGHT  JN  HEAVEN. 

more  for  the  light  of  the  gospel,  and  for  any  rays  from 
heaven,  any  beams  of  the  Sun  of  righteousness,  Which  dif- 
fuse in  lower  measures  knowledge,  and  holiness,  and  com- 
fort, among  the  inhabitants  of  this  our  world.  God  is 
here  manifesting  his  love  and 'grace  in  such  proportions  as 
he  thinks  proper.  Some  beams  of  the  heavenly  world 
break  out  upon  us  here  in  this  dark  region.  God  the 
spring  of  all  our,  light,  and  the  Lamb  of  God  by'his^Spirit 
C9mmunicates  sufficient 'light  to  us,  to  guide  us  on  in  our 
way  to  that  heavenly  country.  »  «" 

In  hell  there  is  all.  nighl;  and  darkness,  thick  darkness 
in  every  sense,  for  the  God  of  glory  is  absent  the're  as  to 
any  manifestations  of  his  face  and  favour.  And  theVefore 
it  is  often  called  "  outer  darkness,  where  there  is  weeping, 
wailing,  'and  gnashing  of  teeth."  •  There,  is  no  holiness  ; 
there,  is  no  comfort  ;  there,  are  no  benefits  of  the  creation, 
no  blessings  of  grace  ;  all  are  forfeited  and  gone  for  ever. 
It  is  everlasting -night  and  blackness  of  darkness  in  that 
world  :  horror  of  soul,  without  a  beam  of  refreshment 
from  the  face  of  God  or  the  Lamb  forever.  The  devils 
are  now" "  reserved  in  everlasting  chains  under  darkness 
to  the  judgment  of  the  great  day,"  Jude  6.  But  then  their 
confinement  shall  be  closer,  and  their  darkness,  guilt,  and 
sorrow,  shall  be  more  overwhelming.  Is  it*  lawful  for  me 
in  this  place,  to  mention  the  description  which  Milton 
our  English  poet  gives  of  their  wretched  habitation  ? 

,  'A  dungeon  horrible  on  all  sides  round, 

As  one  great  furnace  flam'd  ;  yet  from  those  flames    • 
•  .'..      -No  light,  but  rather  darkness  visible  • 

1  %  •    Serv'd  prtly  to  discover  sights  of  woe ; 

Regions  fof  sorrow,  dpleful  shades,  where-  peace 

And  rest  can  never  dwell ;  hope  never  comes, 

That  comes  to  all :  but  torture  without  end  . 

Still  urges,  and  a  fiery  deluge  fed  ', 

With  ever  burning  sulphur  unconsum'd.  •  • 

Such  place  eternal  justice  had  prcjiar'd  f 

For  rebel-angels  ;  here  their  pris'n  ordain'd 

In  utter  darkness,  and  their  portion  set 

As  far  remov'd  from  God  and  light  of-heaven 

As  frpm  the  centre  thrice  td  th'  utmost  pole.'     •  .         »'Jr 

To  this  the  poet  adds,. .  V«   ' 

•  *  A 

'  0  how  unlike  the  place  from  whence  they  fell !' 

How  unlike  to  thfet  heaven  which  I  have  been  describ- 
ing, in  which  there  is  no  night ;  and  all  the  evils  of  dark- 


NO  NIGHT  IN  HEAVEN.  143 

ness  in  every  sense  are  for  ever  excluded  from  that  happy 
region,  where  knowledge,  holiness,  and  joy,  are  all  insepar- 
able £ad  immortal. 

2.  Remark.     'What  light  of  every  kind  we  are  made 
partakers  of  here  on  earth,  let  us  use  it  with  holy  thank- 
fulness, with   zeal  and  religious  improvement*     IJereby 
we"  may  be.  assisted  and  animated  to  travel  on,  through  the 
mingled  stages  and  scenes  of  light  and  darkness,  in  this 
world"  till  we  arrive  at  the  inheritance  of  the  sairit's.in 
perfect  light'.     It  is  a  glorious  blessing  to  this  dark  world, 
that  the  light  of  Christianity  is  added  to  the  light  of  Ju- 
daism, arid- the  light  of  na'ture  ;  and  thai  the  law' of  Moses, 
and  the  gospel  of  'Christ,  are  set  before  us  in  this  nation 
in  their  distinct  views,  on  purpose  to  make  our  way  to  hap- 
piness more  evident  arfd  easy.     May  the  song  of  Moses, 
and  the  song  of  the  Lamb,  be  sung  in  our  land  !     But 
let  us  never  rest  satisfied,  till  the  lighfthat  is  let  into  our 
minds  become  a  spring  of  divine  life  within  us,  a  life  of 
knowledge,  holiness,  and  comfort.     Let  us  not  be  found  a- 
mong  the  number  of  those,  who,  when  '  light  is  come  into 
the  world,  love  darkness  rather  than  light,'  lest  we  fall  un- 
der their  condemnation.     John  iii.    19.     Let  us  never  rest 
till  we  see  the  evidences  of  the  children  of  God  wrought 
in  us  wjth  power  ;  till  the  '  day-spring  that  has  visited  us 
from  on  high'  has'  entered  into  our  spirits,  and  refined  and 
moulded  them  into  the  divine  image;  till  we  who  are  by 
nature  all  '  darkness  are  made  light  in  the  Lord.' 

O  what  a  blessed  change,  does  the  'converting  grace  of 
Christ  make  in  the  soul  of  a  son  or  daughter  of  Adam  ? 
It  is  like  the  beauty  and  pleasure  which  the  rising  morning 
diffuses  over  the  face  of  the  earth,  after  a  night  of  storm 
and  darkness  :  it-i^so  much  of  heaven  let  into  all  the 
chambers  of  the  soul.*  It  is  then  only  that  we  begin  to 
know  ourselves  aright, 'and  know  God  in  his  most  awful 
and  m«st  lovely  manifestations  :  it  is  .in  this  -light  we  see 
the  hateful  evil  of  every  sin,  the  beauty  of  holiness,  the 
worth  of  the  gospel  of  Christ,  and  of  his  salvation.  It  is 
a  light  that  carries  divinertieat  a'nd  life  with  it;  ifcrenews 
all  the  powers  of  the  spirit,  and  introduces  holiness,  hope 
and  joy,  in  the  room  of  folly  and  guilt,  sin,  darkness  and 
sorrow. 

3.  Remark.     If  God  has  wrought  this  sacred  and  di- 
rine  change  in  our  souls,  if  we  are  made  the  children  of 


144  NO  WIGHT  Ilf  HEAVEN. 

light,  or  if  we  profess. to  have  felt  this  change,  and  hope 
for  an  interest  in.  this  bright  inheritance  of  the  saints, '  let 
us  put  away  all  the  works  of  darkness  with  hatred  and 
detestation.'  "Let  us  walk  in  the  light"  of  truth  and  ho- 
liness, Eph.  v.  8.  "  Ye  were  once  darkness,  but  are  now 
light  in  the'Lord  ;  walk  as  children  of  light."  And  the 
apostle  repeats  his-exhortation  to  the  Thessalonians  in  1 
Epist.  5th  chapter  and  the  5th  verse.  ( Ye  are  all  chil- 
dren of  the  light  and. of  the  day,  and  not  the  sons  of 
night  or  darkness  ;  therefore  let  us  not  sleep  as  -do  others, 
but  let  us  watch  and  be  sober;  .putting  on  the  breast-plate 
of  faith  an3  love,  and  for  a  helmet  the  hope  of  salvation  ; 
for  God  hath  not  appointed  us. to  wrath  but  to  cbtain-salva- 
tion  by  our  "Lord  Jesus  ChrisJ/  .  .  . 

To  animate  .every  Christian  to  this  holy  care  and  watch- 
fulness, let  us  think  what  a  terrible  disappointment  it  will 
ber  after  we  have  made  a  bright  profession  of  Christianity 
in  our  lives,  to  lie  down  in  death  in  a  state  of  sin  and  guilt, 
and  to  awake  in  the  world  of  [spirits,  in  the  midst  of  the 
groans  .and  agonies  of  hell,  surrounded  and  covered  with 
everlasting  darkness.  Let  -our  public  profession  be  as  il- 
lustrious and  bright  as  it  wjll,  yet  if  we  indulge  works  of 
darkness  in  secret, .night  and  darkness  will  be  our  eternal 
portion,  with  the  anguish  of  conscience  and  the  terrors  of 
the  Almighty,  without  one  glimpse  of  hdpe  or  relief.  It 
is  only  those  who  walk  in  the  light  of  holiness  here,  who 
can  be  fit  to  dwell  in  the  presence  of.  a  God  of  holiness 
hereafter.  ''Light  ia  sown  only  for  the  righteous,  and  joy 
for  the  upright  in  heart ;'  and  it  shall  break  out  one  day 
from,  among  the  clods,  a  glorious  harvest ;  but  only  the 
sons  and  the  daughters  of  light  shall  taste  of  the  blessed 
fruits  of  it. 

Think  again  with  yourselves  when  you  are  tempted  to 
sin  and  folly.  •  What  if  I  should  be  cut  off  on  a  sudden, 
practising  the  "works  of  darkness,  amt  my  soul  be  summon- 
ed into  the  eternal  jvorld,  covered  with,  guilt  and  defile- 
ment ?  Shall  I  then  be  "fit  for  the  world. of  light  ?  Will 
the  God  of  light  ever  receive  irtb  to  his  dwelling  ?  Do  I 
not  hereby  render  myself  unfit  company  for  the  angels  of 
light  ?  and  what  if  I  should  be  sent  down  to  dwell  among 
the  spirits  of  darkness,  since  I  have  imitated  their  sinful 
manners,  and  obeyed  their  cursed  influence  ? 

0  may  such  thoughts  as  these  dwell  upon  our  spirits  with 


NO  NIGHT  IN  HEAVEN.  145 

an  awful  solemnity,  and  be  a  perpetual  guard  against  defil- 
ing our  garments  with  any  iniquity,  lest  our  Lord  should 
come  and  find  us  thus  polluted.  Let  us  walk  onwards  in 
the  paths  of  light,  which  are  discovered  to  us  in  the  word 
of  God,  and  which  are  illustrated  by  his  holy  ordinances, 
to  guide  us  through  the  clouds  and  shades  which  attend  us 
in  this  wilderness,  till  our  Lord  Jesus  shall  come  with  all 
his  surrounding  glories,  and  take  us  to  the  full  possession 
of  the  inheritance  in  light. 

4.  Remark.  '  Under  our  darkest  nights,  our  most  inac- 
tive and  heavy  hours,  our  most  uncomfortable  seasons  here 
on  earth,  let  us  remember  we  are  travelling  to  a  world  of 
light  and  joy.'  If  we  happen  to  lie  awake  in  midnight 
darkness,  and  count  the  tedious  hours  one  after  another,  in 
a  mournful  succession,  under  any  of  the  maladies  of  nature, 
or  t?:e  sorrows  of  this  life,  let  us  comfort  ourselves  that  we 
are  not  shut  up  in  eternal  night  and  darkness  without  hope, 
but  we  are  still  making  our  way  towards  that  country 
where  there  is  no  night,  where  there  is  neither  sin  nor 
pain,  malady  nor  sorrow. 

What  if  the  blessed  God  is  pleased  to  try  us,  by  the 
with-holding  of  light  from  our  eyes  for  a  season  ?  What 
if  we  are  called  to  seek  our  duty  in  dark  providences,  or 
are  perplexed  in  deep  and  difficult  controversies  wherein 
we  cannot  find  the  light  of  truth  ?  What  if  we '  sit  in  dark- 
ness' and  mourning, '  and  see  no  light,'  and  the  beams  of 
divine  consolation  are  cut  off  ?  let  us  still '  trust  in  the  name 
of  the  Lord,  and  stay  ourselves  upon  cur  God,'  especially 
as  he  manifests  himself  in  the  Lamb  that  was  slain,  the 
blessed  medium  of  his  mercy,  Isa.  1.  10.  Let  us  learn  to 
say  with  the  prophet  Micah  in  the  spirit  of  faith,  Micah 
vii.  8,  9.  "  When  I  sit  in  darkness  the  Lord  will  be  a 
light  unto  me  ;  he  will  bring  me  forth  to  the  light,  and  I 
shall  behold  his  righteousness." 

Blessed  be  God  that  the  night  of  ignorance,  grief,  or  af- 
fliction, which  attends  us  in  this  world,  is  not  everlasting 
night.  Heaven  and  glory  are  at  hand  ;  wait  and  watch 
for  the  morning  star,  for  Jesus  and  the  resurrection.  Roll 
on  apace  in  your  appointed  course  ye  suns  and  moons,  and 
all  ye  twinkling  enlighteners  of  the  sky,  carry  on  the  chan- 
ging seasons  of  light  and  darkness  in  this  lower  world  with 
your  utmost  speed,  till  you  have  finished  all  my  appointed 
months  of  continuance  here.  The  light  of  faith  shews  me 
19  N 


146  NO  NIGHT  IN  HEAVEN. 

the  dawning  of  that  glorious  day,  which  shall  finish  all  my 
nights  and  darknesses  for  ever.  Make  haste,  0  delightful 
morning,  and  delay  not  my  hopes.  Let  me  hasten,  let  me 
arrive  at  that  blessed  inheritance,  those  mansions  of  para- 
dise, where  night  is  never  known,  but  one  eternal  day 
shall  make- our  knowledge,  our  holiness,  and  our  joy,  eter 
nal. 


DISCOURSE    VIII. 


A  SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN. 
3  COB.  v.  5.     Now  he  that  hath  wrought  us  for  the  self-same  thing^  God. 

WHEN  this  apostle  designs  to  entertain  our  hope  in  the 
noblest  manner,  and  raise  our  faith  to  its  highest  joys,  he 
generally  calls  our  thoughts  far  away  from  all  present  and 
visible  things,  and  sends  them  forward  to  the  great  and 
glorious  day  of  the  resurrection.  He  points  our  medita- 
tions to  take  a  distant  prospect  of  the  final  and  complete 
happiness  of  the  saints  in  Heaven,  when  their  bodies  shall 
be  raised  shining  and  immortal ;  whereas  it  is  but  seldom 
that  he  takes  notice  of  the  Heaven  of  separate  souls,  or 
that  part  of  our  future  happiness  which  commences  at  the 
hour  of  death.  But  in  this  chapter  the  holy  writer  seems 
to  keep  both  these  heavens  in  his  eye,  and  speaks  of  that 
blessedness  which  the  spirits  of  the  just  shall  enjoy  in  ths 
*  presence  of  the  Lord,'  as  soon  as  'they  are  absent  from 
the  body  ;'  and  yet  leads  our  souls  onwards  also  to  our  last 
and  most  perfect  state  of  happiness,  which  is  delayed  till 
our  corruptible  bodies  shall  be  raised  from  the  dust,  and  mor- 
tality shall  be  swallowed  up  in  life.  '  We  know,'  saith  he  in 
the  first  verse  of  this  chapter,  '  we  know  that  as  soon  as 
our  mortal  tabernacle,'  in  which  we  now  dwell, '  is  dissolv- 
ed, we  have  a  building,'  ready  for  us  l  in  the  heavens  ;' 
i.  e.  an  investiture  in  a  glorious  state  of  holiness  and  im- 
mortality, which  waits  to  receive  our  spirits  when  we  drop 
this  dying  flesh.  Yet  the  felicities  of  this  paradise,  or  first 
heaven,  shall  receive  an  unspeakable  addition  and  ad- 
vancement, when  'Christ  shall  come  the  second  time,' 
with  all  his  saints,  to  complete  our  salvation. 

But  which  heaven  soever  we  arrive  at,  whether  it  be  this 
of  the  separate  state,  or  that  when  our  bodies  shall  be  restor- 
ed, still  we  must  be  *  wrought  up'  to  a  proper  fitness  for 

147 


148  A  SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN. 

it  by  God  himself ;  and  as  the  end  of  this  verse  tells  us, 
he  '  gives  us  his  own  Spirit  as  an  earnest'  of  these  future 
blessings. 

The  observation  which  shall  be  the  subject  of  my  dis- 
course, is  this  :  '  Those  who  shall  enjoy  the  heavenly 
blessedness  hereafter,  must  be  prepared  for  it  here  in  this 
world,  by  the  operation  of  the  blessed  God.' 

Here  we  must  take  notice  in  the  first  place,  that  since 
we  are  sinful  and  guilty  creatures  in  ourselves,  and  have 
forfeited  all  our  pretences  to  the  favour  of  God  and  happi- 
ness, we  must  be  restored  to  his  favour,  we  must  have  our 
sins  forgiven,  we  must  be  justified  in  his  sight  with  an 
everlasting  righteousness,  we  must  be  adopted  as  the  chil- 
dren of  God,  and  have  a  right  and  title  given  us  to  the 
heavenly  inheritance,  before  we  can  enter  into  it,  or  pos- 
sess it ;  and  this  blessing  is  procured  for  us  by  the  obedi- 
ence and  death  of  the  Son  of  God.  It  is  in  his  blood  that 
we  find  an  atonement  for  our  iniquities,  and  we  must  be 
made  heirs  of  glory  by  becoming  the  adopted  children  of 
God,  and  so  '  we  are  joint-heirs'  with  his  Son  Jesus,  and 
•shall  be  glorified  with  him,  Rom.  viii.  17. 

And  it  is  by  a  true  and  living  faith  in  the  Son  of  God, 
that  we  become  partakers  of  this  blessing.  God  has  set 
forth  his  Son  Jesus  as  a  propitiation  for  sinners  through 
faith  in  his  blood,  Rom.  iii.  24.  "We  are  justified  by  faith" 
in  his  blood,  and  "have  hope  of  eternal  life  through  him," 
Rom  v.  We  also  receive  our  adoption,  and  "become  the 
children  of  God  through  faith  in  Christ  Jesus,"  Gal.  iii.  26, 
and  thereby  we  obtain  a  title  to  some  mansion  in  our  Fa- 
ther's house  in  heaven,  since  Jesus  our  elder  brother,  and 
our  forerunner,  is  admitted  into  it  to  take  a  place  there  in 
our  name.  This  is  a  very  considerable  part  of  our  neces- 
sary preparation  for  the  heavenly  world,  that  we  should  be 
believers  in  the  Son  of  God,  and  united  to  him  by  a  living 
faith;  and  this  faith  also  is  'the  gift  of  God,'  Eph.  ii.  8. 
We  are  wrought  up  to  it  by  his  grace. 

But  as  this  does  not  seem  to  be  the  chief  thing  designed 
in  the  words  of  my  text,  I  shall  pass  it  over  thus  briefly, 
and  apply  myself  to  consider  what  that  further  fitness  or 
preparation  for  heaven  intends,  for  which  we  are  said  here 
<to  be  wrought  up  by  God'  himself.  The  former  prepara- 
tion for  heaven,  may  rather  be  said  to  be  a  <  relative  change,' 
which  is  included  in  our  pardon  or  justification,  and  alters 


A  SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVErs.  149 

oi^r  state  from  the  condemnation  of  hell,  to^  the  favour  and 
love  t  of  God  *  but  this 'latter  preparation  implies  a  real 
change  of  our  nature  by  sanctifying  grace,  and  gives  us  a 
temper  of  soul  suited  to  the  business  and  blessedness  of 
the  heavenly  world.  This  is  the  'preparation'  which  my 
text  speaks  of. 

The  great  enquiry  therefore  at  present  is,  'What  are 
those  steps,  or  gradual  operations^,  by  which  the  blessed 
God  works  us  up  to  this  fitness  for  heaven  ?' 

And  here  I  shall  not  run  over  all  the  parts  and  linea- 
ments of  the  new  creature,  which  is  formed  by  regenera- 
tion, nor  the  particular  operations  of  converting:  grace, 
whereby  .we  are  convinced  of  sin,  and  led  to  faith  and 
repentance,  and  new  obedience,  though  these  are  all 
necessary  to  this  end  $  but  I  shall  confine  myself  only 
to  those  things  which  nave  a  more  immediate  reference 
to  the  heavenly  blessedness  ;  and  they  are  such  as  fol- 
low : 

1.  'God  works  us  up  to  a  preparation  for  the  heavenly 
felicity,  by  establishing  and  confirming  our  belief,  that 
there  is  a  heaven  provided  for  the  saints,  and  by  giving 
us  some  clearer  acquaintance.  ,with  the  nature,  the  bu- 
siness, and  the  blessedness  of  this  heaven.'  All  this 
is  done  by  the  gospel  of  Christ,  and'  by  the  secret  ope- 
ration of  the  blessed  Go.d,  teaching  us  to  understand  his 
gospel. 

Alas!  how  ignorant  were  the  heathen  sages  about  any 
future  state  for  the  righteous  ?  how  bewildered  were  the 
best  of  them  in  all  their  imaginations  ?  how  vain  were  all 
their  reasonings  upon  this  subject,  and  how  little  satis- 

•  faction  could  they  give  to  an  honest  enquirer,  whether 
there  was  any  reward  provided  for  good  men  beyond  this 
life  ?    The  light  of  nature  was  their  guide  ;  and  those  in 

•  whom  this  feeble  taper  burnt  with  the  fairest  lustre,  were 
still  left  in  great  darkness  about  futurity.     As  the  Gentile 
philosophers  were  left  in  great  uncertainties  whether  there 
was  any  heaven  or  not,  so  were  their  conceptions  of  hea- 
venly tilings  very  absurd  and  ridiculous ;  and  their  various 
fancies  about  the  nature  and  enjoyments  of  it,   were  all 
impertinence. 

And  how  little  knowledge  had  the  Patriarchs  them- 
selves, if  we  may  judge  of  their  knowledge  by  the  five 
books  of  Moses,  which  give  no  plain  and  express  promise 

N2 


150  A  SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN". 

of  future  happiness  in  another  world,  neither  to  Abel  nor 
Noah,  to  Abraham,  Isaac,  Jaco"b,  or  to  Moses  himself? 
And  were  it  not  for  some  expressions  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, and  by  the  xith  chapter  to  the  Hebrews,  where  we 
are  told,  that  these  good  men  l  sought  a  heavenly  country,' 
and  hoped  for  happiness  in  a  future  and  invisible  state, 
we  should  sometimes  be  ready  to'  doubt  whether  they 
knew  almost  any  thing  of  the  future  resurrection  ami 
glory. 

That  great  and  excellent  man  Job  had  one  or  two  lucid 
intervals  of  peculiar  brightness,  which  shone  upon  him 
from  heaven,  in  the  midst  of  his  distresses,  and  raised  him 
above  and  beyond  the  common  level  of  the  dispensation 
he  lived  in;  yet,  in  the  main,  when  he  describes  the  state 
of  the  dead,  how  desolate  and  dolesome  is  his  language, 
and  what  heavy  darkness  hangs  upon  his  hope  !  See  his 
expression,  Job  x.  21,  22,  "Let  me  alone  that  I  may  take 
comfort  a  little,  before  I  go  whence  I  shall  not  return, 
even  to  the  land  of  darkness,  and  the  shadow  of  death,  a 
land  of  darkness  as  darkness  itself,  and  of  the  shadow  of 
death  without  any  order,  and  where  the  light  is  as  dark- 
ness." Mark  how  this  good  man  heaps  one  darkness  upon 
another,  and  make^  so  formidable  a  gloom  as  was  hardly 
to  be  dispelled  by  the  common  notices  given  to  men  in 
that  age. 

And  if  we  look  into  the  Jewish  writings  in  and  after 
the  days  of  Moses,  we  find  the  men  of  righteousness  fre- 
quently entertained  with  promises  of  corn,  and  wine,  and 
oil,  and  other  blessings  of  sense  ;  and  few  there  were 
amongst  them  who  saw  clearly,  and  firmly  believed  the 
heavenly  inheritance  through  the  types,  and  shadows,  and" 
figures  of  Canaan,  the  .promised  land,  which  flowed  with 
milk  and  honey.* 

*  There  is  no  difficulty  in  believing,  that  the  views  of  the  Old  Testament 
saints  were  limited  and  obscure,  Concerning  many  things  upon  which  the 
gospel  has  shed  a  more  powerful  and  consoling  light.  But  we  cannot  agreo 
in  thinking  that  they  were  altogether  so  much  in  the  dark,  as  spme  good 
men  have  imagined  them.  Job's  ideas  of  a  resurrection  seem  to  have  been 
as  clear  and  as  comfortable  as  any  which  we  possess ;  although  some  cir- 
cumstances connected  with  that  event,  and  which  have  been  since  revealed, 
were  most  probably  unknown  to  him.  He  could  say,  nevertheless,  "I know 
that  my  Redeemer  liveth,  and  that  he  shall  stand  at  the  latter  day  upon  the 
earth :  and  though  after  my  skin  Worms  destroy  this  body,  yet  in  my  flesh 
shall  I  see  God  :  whom  I  shall  see  for  myself,  and  mine  eyes  shall  behold, 


A  SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN.          151 

It  is  granted  there  are  some  hints  and  discoveries  of  a 
blessedness  beyond  the  grave  in  the  writings  of  David, 
Isaiah,  Daniel,  and  some  of  the -Prophets  :  but  the  bright- 
est of  these  notices  fall  for  short  of  what  the  gospel  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  has  set  before  us.  The  Son  of  God  who 
came  down  from  heaven,  where  he  had  lived  from  before 
the  creation  of  this  world,  .has  revealed  to  us  infinitely 
more  of  the  invisible  state  than  all  that  went  before  him. 
He  tells  us  of  the  'pure  in  heart  enjoying  the  sight  of  God,' 
and  conversing  with  'Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob,'  the  an- 
cient saints.  He  assures  us  there  'are  many  mansions  in 
his  Father's  hoilfce,'  and  that -he  'went  to  prepare  a  place' 
there  for  his  followers.  "I  tell  you"  says  he,  John  viii.  38, 
"I  tell  you  the  things  which  I  have  seen  with  my  Father." 
And  when  he  came  again  from  the  dead,  he  made  it  ap- 
pear to  his  disciples  that  he  had  " brought  life  and  immor- 
tality to  light  by  his  gospel,"  2' Tim.  i.  10. 

It  is  only  the  New  Testament  that  gives  us  so  bright 
and  satisfactory  an  account  what  our  future  heaven  is. 
The  'righteous  shall  be  with  God,'  shall  behold  him,  shall 
dwell  with  Christ,  and  see  his  glory  ;  they  shall  worship 
day  and  night  in  his  temple,  and  sing  the  praises  of  him 
that  sits  upon  the  throne,  arid  of  the  Lamb  that  has  redeem- 
ed them  by  his  blood;  there  shall  be  no  sin,  no  sorrow, 

and  not  another."  Job  xix.  25 — 27.f  Even  Balaam,  at  a  later  age,  although 
a  "stranger  to  the  covenants  of  promise,"  could. say,  in  view  of  the  hopes 
which  support  the  godly  man  in  death,  "  Let  me  die  the  death  of  the 
righteous,  and  let  my  last  end  be  like  his  !"  Num.  xxiii.  10.  We  have  not 
sufficient  ground  to  infer  from  the  silence  of  scripture,  that  the  ancient  Jews 
were  ignorant  of  the  spiritual  things,  which  were  typified  by  their  rites,  ob- 
servances, and  peculiar  privileges.  We  find  from  various  passages  of  the 
New  Testament,  that  they  were  acquainted  with  particulars,  and  actuated 
by  views,  which  arc  not  -expressly  attributed  to  them  in  the  Old  Testament 
records.  See,  ft>r  example,  John  viii.  56.  Heb.  xi.  Jude  14,  15/.  In  Heb. 
xi.  9,  10,  it  is  intimated  that  Abraham  had  some'  view  of  the  typical  refe- 
rence of  the  promised  land,  as  the  pledge  of  a  better  inheritance :  and  if 
this  was  known  to  him,  we  should  not  rashly  impute  ignorance  of  it  to  his 
pious  descendants. — ED. 

t  Annexed  are  two  translations  of  this  remarkable  pnssage. 

"  I  am  sure  that  my  redeemer  liveth  ;         "  I  know  that  my  Redeemer  (<s)  living, 
And  that  I  slml  ryse  out  of  the  And  that  ;it  the  last  ((lay) 

earth  in  the  latter  (laye;  He  will  arise  (in  judgment)   upon 

That  I  slial  lie  clothed  againe  dust  (mankind). 

with  this  skynne:  And  after  my  skin  lie  manrled  thus, 

And  se  God  in  my  flesh.  Yet  ever  from  my  flesh  shall  I  sec  Ood  ; 

Yee,  I  myself  shal  bcholde  him,  •  Whom  I  shall  seo  for  me  (on  my  side) 
Not  with  other,  but  with  these  And  mine  eyes  shall  behold  him 

same  eyes."  COVBRDALE.  not  estranged."  IIALEU, 


152  A  SOUL  PREPABED  FOR  HEAVEN. 

no  death,  nortany  more  pain  ;  they  shall  have  such  satis- 
factions and  employments  as-  are  worthy  of  a  rational  na- 
ture, and  a  soul  refined  from  sense  and  sin.  St.  Paul,  one 
of  his  disciples,  was  transported  into  the  third  heaven  be- 
fore he  died,  and  there  learnt  "unspeakahle  things," 
2  Cor.  xii.  2,  4;  and  he,  together  with  the  other  Apostles, 
have  published  the  glories  of  that  future  world  which  they 
learnt  from  Jesus  their  Lord,  and  confirmed  these  things 
to  our  faith  by  prophecies  and  miracles  without  number. 

Now  the  blessed  God  himself  prepares  his  own  people 
for  this  heaven  of  happiness  by  giving  them  a  full  con- 
viction and  assurance  of  the  truth  of  a4>  these  divine  dis- 
coveries; he  impresses  them  upon  their  heart  with  power, 
and  makes  them  attend  to  those  divine  inlpressions.  Every 
true  Christian  has  learnt  to  say  within  himself,  'This 
celestial  blessedness  is  no  dream,  is  no  painted  vision,  no 
gay  scene  of  flattering  fahcy,  nor  is  it  a  matter  of  doubtful 
dispute,  or  of  uncertain  opinion.  I  am  assured  of  it  from 
the  words  of  Christ  the  Son  of  God,  and  from  his 
blessed  followers,  whom  he  authorised  to  teach  me  the 
things  of  a. future  world.'  He  that  is  taught  of  God  be- 
holds these  glories  in  the  light  of  a  divine  faith,  which  is 
to  him  the  "substance  of  things  hoped  for,  and  the  evi- 
dence of  things  not  yet  seen,"  Heb.-xi.  1. 

2.  God  works  up  the  souls  of  his  people  to  a  prepara- 
tion for  the  heavenly  state,  by  'purifying  them  from 
every  defilement  that  might  unfit  them  for  the  blessedness 
of  heaven.'  The  removal  of  the  guilt  of  sin  by' his  par- 
doning mercy  I  have  mentioned  before,  as  necessary  to 
our  entrance  into  the  heavenly  state  ;  and  we  must  walk 
through  this  world,  this  defiling  world  with  all  holy 
watchfulness,  lest  our  soul  be  blemished  with  new  pollu- 
tions, lest  new  guilt  come  upon  our  consciences,  and  the 
thoughts  of  appearance  before  God  be  terrible  to  us.  That 
soul  is  very  much  unfit  for  an  entrance  into  the  presence 
of  a  holy  God,  who  is  ever  plunging  itself  into  new  cir- 
cumstances of  guilt,  by  a  careless  and  unholy  conversation. 
To  stand  upon  the  borders  of  life,-  and  the  very  edge  of 
eternity,  will  be  dreadful  to  those  who  have  given  them- 
selves loose  to  criminal  pleasures,  and  indulged  their 
irregular  appetites  and  passions. 

But  it  is  not  only  a  conscience  purged  from  the  guilt 
of  sin  by  the  blood  of  Christ,  but  a  soul  washed  also  from 


A  SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN.          153 

the  defiling  power  and  taint  of  sin,  by  the  sanctifying 
Spirit  that  is  necessary  to  make  us  meet  for  the  heavenly 
inheritance.  This  is  that  purification  which  I  now  chiefly 
intend  ;  Matth.  v.  8,  "Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart,  for 
they  shall  see  God."  Nothing  that  defileth  must  enter 
into  the  city  of  God  on  high,  nor  whosoever  maketh  a 
lie  or  loveth  it,  Rev.  xxi.  27.  No  injustice,  no  falsehood, 
no  guile  or  deceit  can  be  admitted  within  those  gates. 
They  must  be  without  guile  both  in  their  heart  and  tongue, 
if  they  will  "stand  before  the  throne  of  God,"  Rev.  xiv. 
5  :  sincerity  and  truth  of  soul,  with  all  the  beauties  of  an 
upright  heart  and  character,  are  necessary  to  prepare  an 
inhabitant  for  that  blessed  state.  There  must  be  no  envy, 
no  wrath  or  malice,  no  revenge;  nor  will  any  of  the  angry 
principles  that  dwell  in  our  flesh  and  blood,  or  that  inflame 
and  disturb  the  mind,  be  found  in  those  regions  of  peace 
and  love.  There  must  be  no  pride  or  ambition,  no  self- 
exaltation  and  vanity  that  can  dwell  in  heaven,  for  it  cast 
out  the  angels  of  glorious  degree,  when  they  would  exalt 
themselves  above  their  own  station.  <  Pride  was  the  con- 
demnation of  the  devil,'  and  it  must  not  dwell  in  a  human 
heart  that  ever  hopes  for  a  heavenly  dwelling-place, 
1  Tim.  iii.  6,  and  Jude  ver.  6.  There  must  be  no  sensual 
and  intemperate  creature  there,  no  covetous  selfishness, 
no  irregular  passions,  no  narrowness  of  soul,  no  unchari- 
table and  party  spirit  will  ever  be  found  in  that  country 
of  diffusive  love  and  joy. 

And  since  the  best  of  Christians  have  had  the  seeds  of 
many  of  these  iniquities  in  their  hearts,  and  they  have  made 
a  painful  complaint  of  these  r;sing  corruptions  of  nature 
upon  many  occasions,  these  iniquities  must  be  mortified 
and  slain  by  the  work  of  the  Spirit  of  God  within  us,  if 
ever  we  ourselves  would  live  the  divine  life  of  heaven, 
Rom.  viii.  33.  There  is  a  great  deal  of  this  purifying 
work  to  be  done  in  the  souls  of  all  of  us,  before  we  can 
be  prepared  for  the  heavenly  world,  and  though  we  cannot 
arrive  at  perfection  here,  yet  we  must  be  wrought  up  to  a 
temper  in  some  measure  fit  to  enter  into  that  blessednesc  -. 
and  God  is  training  his  people  up  for  this  purpose  all  the 
days  of  their  travels  through  this  desert  world.  Happy 
souls,  who  feel  themselves  more  and  more  released  from 
the  bonds  of  these  iniquities,  day  by  day,  and  thereby  feel 
within  themselves  the  growing  evidences  of  a  joyful  hope! 
20 


154  A  SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN. 

3.  God  does  not  only  purify  us  from  every  sin  in  order 
to  prepare  us  for  heaven,  but  f  he  is  ever  loosening  and 
yeaning  our  hearts  from  all  those  lawful  things  in  this  life, 
which  are  not  to  be  enjoyed  in  heaven.'  Our  sensual  ap- 
petites, and  our  carnal  desires,  so  far  as  they  are  natural, 
though  not  sinful,  must  die  before  we  can  enter  into  eter- 
nal life.  '  Flesh  and  blood  cannot  inherit'  that  divine,  in- 
corruptible, and  refined  happiness.  Riches  and  treasures 
of  gold  and  silver  which  the <  rust  can  corrupt,  and  which 
thieves  can  break  through  and  steal,'  are  not  provided  for 
the  heavenly  state:  they  are  all  of  the  earthly  kind,  and 
too  mean  for  the  relish  of  ,a  heavenly  spirit.  Although  a 
Christian  may  possess  many  of  these  things  in  the  present 
life,  yet  his  affections  must  be  divested  of  them,  and  his 
soul  divided  from  them,  if  he  would  be  a  saint  indeed,  and 
ever  ready  for  the  purer  blessir.gs  of  paradise.  The  busi- 
nesses, the  cares  and  the  concerns  of  this  secular  life,  are  rea- 
dy to  drink  up  our  spirits  too  much  while  we  are  here  ; 
we  are  too  prone  to  mingle  our  very  souls  with  them,  and 
thereby  STOW  unfit  for  heavenly  felicities  :  and  therefore 
it  is  that  tar  Saviour  has  warned  us,  Luke  xxi.  34,  "  Let 
not  your  hearts  be  overcharged  with  the  cares  of  this  world," 
any  more  than  "  with  surfeiting  and  drunkenness,"  if 
you  would  be  always  ready  for  your  flight  to  a  better  state, 
and  meet  the  summons  of  your  Lord  to  paradise. 

There  are  also  many  curious  speculations  and  delightful 
amusements  which  may  lawfully  entertain  us  while  we 
are  here  ;  there  are  sports  and  recreations  which  may  di- 
vert the  flesh  or  the  mind  in  a  lawful  manner,  whilst  we 
dwell  in  tabernacles  of  flesh  and  blood,  and  are  encompass- 
ed with  mortal  things.  But  the  soul  that  is  wrought  up 
for  heaven  must  arise  to  an  holy  indifference  to  all  the  en- 
tertainments of  flesh  and  sense,  and  time,  if  it  would  put 
on  the  appearance  of  an  heavenly  inhabitant.  Christians, 
that  would  be  ever  ready  for  the  glories  of  a  better  world, 
must  be  such  in  some  measure  as  the  Apostle  describes,  1 
Cor.  vii.  30.  &c.  They  must  '  rejoice'  with  such  moder- 
-tion  in  their  dearest  comforts  of  life  <  as  though  they  re- 
joiced not ;'  they  must  weep  and  mourn  for  the  loss  of 
them  with  such  a  divine  self-government  <  as  though  they 
wept  not ;'  they  must « buy  as  though  they  possessed  not;' 
they  must  '  use  this  world  as  not  abusing  it'  in  any  in- 
stance, but  must  look  upon  the  fashions  and  the  scenes  of  it 


A  SOUL  PREPARED  TOR  HEAVEN.  155 

as  vanishing  things,  and  have  their  hearts  "  set  on  the  things 
that  are  above,  where  Christ  Jesus  is  at  the  Father's  right 
hand,"  Colos.  iii.  1,  2. 

If  you  ask  me,  what  methods  the  blessed  God  uses  in 
<jrder  to  attain  these  ends,  and  to  purify  and  refine  the 
soul  for  heaven  ?  I  answer,  he  sometimes  does  it  by 
sharp  strokes  of  affliction,  making  our  interests  in  the  crea- 
ture bitter  to  us,  that  we  may  be  weaned  from  the  relish 
of  them,  and  the  power  of  divine  grace  must  accompany 
all  his  weaning  providences,  or  the  work  will  not  be  done. 

Sometimes  again  he  weans  the  soul  from  the  lawful 
things  of  the  world,  by  permitting  our  earthly  enjoyments 
to  plunge  us  into  difficulties,  to  seize  the  heart  with  anxi- 
eties, or  to  surround  us  with  sore  temptation?.  Then, 
when  we  feel  ourselves  falling  into  sin,  and  bruised  or  de- 
filed thereby,  we  lose  our  former  gust  of  pleasure  in  them ; 
and  when  we  are  recovered  by  divine  grace,  we  are  more 
effectually  weaned  from  such  kind  of  temptations  for  the 
future;  but  it  is  impossible  in  the  compass  of  a  few  lines 
to  describe  the  various  methods  which  the  blessed  God 
uses  to  wean  the  spirit  from  all  its  earthly  attachments, 
and  to  work  it  up  to  a  meetness  for  the  inheritance  of  the 
saints  in  light.  Blessed  souls,  who  are  thus  loosened  and 
weaned  from  sensible  things,  though  it  be  done  by  painful 
sufferings! 

4.  The  great  God  not  only  *.veans  our  hearts  from 
those  things  that  are  not  to  be  enjoyed  in  heaven,  but  he 
'  gives  us  a  holy  appetite  and  relish  suited  to  the  provisions 
of  the  heaver.V  world,  and  raises  our  desires  and  tenden- 
cies of  soul  towards  them.'  By  nature  our  minds  are  es- 
tranged from  God,  and  from  all  that  is  divine  and  holy  ; 
we  have  no  desires  after  his  love,  nor  delight  in  the  thought 
01  dwelling  with  God :  but  when  divine  grace  has  effectu- 
ally touched  the  heart,  it  ever  tends  upwards  to  that  world 
of  holiness  and  peace.  So  the  needle,  when  it  is  touched 
by  the  load-stone,  ever  points  to  the  beloved  pole-star,  and 
seems  uneasy  when  it  is  diverted  from  it,  nor  will  it  rest 
till  it  return  thither  again. 

Do  the  sweet  sensations  of  divine  love  make  up  a  great 
part  of  the  heavenly  blessedness  ?  The  soul  is  in  some 
measure  fitted  for  it,  who  can  say  with  David  in  Psal.  iv. 
7,  "Lord  lift  thou  up  upon  me  the  light  of  thy  counte- 
nance, and  it  shall  rejoice"  my  heart  "more  than  if  corn 


156          A  SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN. 

and  wine,  and  oil  abounded,"  and  all  earthly  blessings 
were  multiplied  upon  me ;  for  in  thy  love  is  the  life  of 
my  soul,  and  thy  "loving-kindness  is  better  than  life," 
Psal.  Ixiii. 

Is  the  felicitating  presence  of  God  to  be  enjoyed  in  the 
future  world,  and  shall  we  see  his  face  there  with  un- 
speakable delight?  Then  those  souls  are  prepared  for 
heaven,  who  can  say  with  the  Psalmist,  Psal.  xlii.  2, 
"When  shall  I  come  and  appear  before  God?"  When 
shall  I  have  finished  my  travels  through  this  wilderness, 
that  I  may  arrive  at  my  Father's  house  ?  "  This  one  thing 
have  I  desired,  that  I  may  dwell  in  the  house  of  God  for 
ever  to  behold  the  beauty  of  the  Lord  there,"  Psal.  xxvii. 
4.  It  is  enough  for  me  that  I  shall  "behold  thy  face  in 
righteousness,  and  I  shall  be  satisfied  when  I  awake"  out 
of  the  dust  "with  thy  likeness.  With  my  soul  have  I 
desired  thee,  0  Lord,  in  the  night,"  in  the  darkness  of 
this  desert  world  I  have  longed  for  the  light  of  thy  face, 
"and  with  my  spirit  within  me  I  will  seek  thee  early. 
Whom  have  I  in  heaven  but  thee,  neither  is  there  any  on 
earth  that  I  desire  beside  thee,"  Psal.  xvii.  Isa.  xxvi.  Psal. 
Ixxiii.  0  when  shall  the  day  come  when  there  shall  be 
no  more  distance  and  estrangement  of  my  heart  from  God, 
but  I  shall  feel  all  my  powers  for  ever  near  him  ? 

Is  the  sweet  society  of  Jesus  to  be  enjoyed  in  the  hea- 
venly region?  Then  those  are  prepared  for  this  happi- 
ness who  feel  in  themselves  "a  desire  to  depart,  and  to  be 
with  Christ,  which  is  far  better"  than  the  most  pleasurable 
scenes  on  earth,  Phil.  i.  23.  "I  am  willing"  and  rejoice 
in  the  thought  of  it  "rather  to  be  absent  from  the  body, 
and  to  be  present  with  the  Lord,"  2  Cor.  v.  8.  I  behold 
in  the  light  of  faith  the  dawning  glory  of  that  day,  when 
Jesus  shall  return  from  heaven,  when  he  shall  revisit  this 
wretched  world,  and  put  an  end  to  these  wretched  scenes 
of  vanity.  "Behold  he  cometh  in  the  clouds,  and  every 
eye  shall  see  him."  He  comes  into  our  world  "  to  them 
that  look  for  him,"  not  to  be  made  a  sacrifice  for  sin,  but 
to  complete  our  salvation.  I  long  to  behold  him,  and  I 
love  the  thought  of  his  appearance,  Rev.  i.  Heb.  ix/  2 
Tim.  iv.  &c. 

Is  there  not  only  a  freedom  from  pain  and  sorrow 
among  the  saints  on  high,  but  is  there  also  an  eternal  re- 
lease from  all  the  bonds  of  sin  and  temptation?  Then 


A  SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN.  157 

that  soul  discovers  a  degree  of  preparation  for  it,  who  can 
say  with  an  holy  groan  and  grief  of  heart,  "0  wretched 
man  that  I  am,  who  shall  deliver  me  from  this  hody  of 
sin  and  death?"  Rom.  vii.  "  In  this  tabernacle  we  groan 
indeed  being  burdened,  and  are  desirous  rather  to  be 
clothed  upon  with  our  house  which  is  from  heaven,"  with 
our  holy  state  of  immortality,  2  Cor.  v. 

5.  That  God  who  has  wrought  these  divine  breathings 
in  the  soul  will  one  day  fulfil  them  all,  and  he  is  working 
up  the  Christian  to  a  blessed  meetness  for  this  felicity,  by 
awakening  these  wishes 'in  the  very  centre  of  the  heart. 
Happy  heart,  which  feels  these  holy  aspirations,  these  di- 
vine breathings! 

6.  The  blessed  God  is  pleased  to  work  us  up  to  a  pre- 
paration for  the  heavenly  world  'by  forming  the  temper 
of  our  minds  into  a  likeness  to  the  inhabitants  of  heaven,' 
i.  e.  to  God  himself,  to  Christ  Jesus  the  Son  of  God,  to 
angels  and  saints,  to  the  spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect. 
From  the  children  of  folly  and  sin  we  must  be  transform- 
ed into  the  children  of  God,  we  must  be  created  anew 
after  his  image,  and  resemble  our  heavenly  Father,  that 
we  may  be  capable  of  enjoying  his  love,  and  rejoicing  in 
his  presence.     We  must  oe  conformable  to  the  image  of 
his  only  begotten  Son  Christ  Jesus,  and  walk  and  live  as 
he  did  in  this  world,  that  we  may  be  prepared  to  dwell 
with  him  in  the  world  to  come,  Rom.  viii.  29 ;   1  John  iv. 
17.     We  must  have  the  same  temper  and  spirit  of  holiness 
wrought  in  us,  that  we  may  be  imitators  of  all  the  holy 
ones  that  dwell  in  heaven,  and  that  we  may  be  followers 
of  the  saints  who  have  been  strangers  and  travellers  in  this 
world  in  all  former  ages, 

How  can  we  hope  to  have  free  conversation  with  glori- 
ous beings,  which  are  so  unlike  to  ourselves,  as  God,  and 
Christ,  and  angels  are  unlike  to  the  sinful  children  of 
men?  How  can  we  imagine  ourselves  to  be  fit  company 
for  such  pure  and  perfect  beings,  beauteous,  and  shining  in 
holiness,  while  we  are  defiled  with  the  iniquities  of  our 
natures,  and  ever  falling  into  new  guilt  and  pollution? 
Happy  souls,  who  can  say  through  grace,  'I  have  walked 
in  the  light  as  God  is  in  the  light,'  and  I  trust,  0  Father, 
I  shall  dwell  for  ever  with  thee  there.  I  have  been  a  fol- 
lower of  the  Lamb  through  the  thorny  and  rugged  pas- 
sages of  this  wilderness,  and  I  humbly  hope  I  shall  sit 
0 


158         A  SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN. 

with  thee,  0  Jesus,  upon  a  throne  glorious  and  holy.  I 
have  been  a  companion  of  them  who  have  finished  the 
Christian  race,  who  have  fought  the  good  fight,  and  oh-, 
tained  the  victory,  and  I  trust  I  shall  have  a  name  and  a 
place  amongst  all  you  holy  ones  who  have  fought  and 
overcome.  0  for  a  heart  and  tongue  furnished  for  snch 
appeals  to  all  the  blessed  inhabitants  of  paradise,  the  pos- 
sessors of  those  mansions  on  high ! 

7.  The  grace  of  God  works  us  up  to  a  preparation  for 
heaven  'by  carrying  us  through  those  trials  and  sufferings, 
those  labours  and  conflicts  here  in  this  life,  which  will  not 
only  make  heaven  the  sweeter  to  us,  but  will  make  it  more 
honorable  for  God  himself  to  bestow  this  heaven  upon  us. ' 
When  the  spirits  of  a  creature  are  almost  worn  out  with 
the  toilsome  labours  of  the  day,  what  an  additional  sweet- 
ness does  he  find  in  rest  and  repose?  What  an  inward 
relish  and  satisfaction  to  the  soul,  that  has  been  fatigued 
under  a  long  and  tedious  war  with  sins  and  temptations, 
to  be  transported  to  such  a  place  where  sin  cannot  follow 
them,  and  temptation  can  never  reach  them  ?  How  will 
it  enhance  all  the  felicities  of  the  heavenly  world  when  we 
enter  into  it,  to  feel  ourselves  released  from  all  the  trials 
and  distresses  and  sufferings  which  we  have  sustained  in 
our  travels  thitherwards?  The  review  of  the  waves  and 
the  storms  wherein  we  had  been  tossed  for  a  long  season, 
and  had  been  almost  shipwrecked  there,  will  make  the 
peaceful  haven  of  eternity,  to  which  we  shall  arrive,  much 
more  agreeable  to  every  one  of  the  sufferers,  2  Cor.  iv.  17. 
"Our  light  afflictions,  which  are  but  for  a  moment,  are" 
in  this  way  "working  for  us  a  far  more  exceeding  and 
eternal  weight  of  glory,"  and  preparing  us  for  the  pos- 
session of  it. 

But  it  should  be  added  also,  that  the  prize  of  life,  and 
the  crown  of  glory,  is  much  more  honourably  bestowed 
on  those  who  have  been  long  fighting,  running,  and  la- 
bouring to  obtain  it.  Heaven  will  appear  as  a  condecent* 
reward  of  all  the  faithful  servants  of  God  upon  earth,  and 
a  divine  recompence  of  their  labours  and  sufferings,  2 
Thes.  i.  6.  'As  it  is  a  righteous  thing  with  God  to  re- 
compence tribulation  to  them  that  trouble  you,  so  to  give 
to  those  who  are  troubled  rest'  and  salvation. 

*  Fit,  becoming,  appropriate. — ED. 


t* 

A  SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN.  159 

This  is  that  equitable  or  condecent  fitness  that  God,  as 
governor  of  the  world,  has  wisely  appointed  and  made 
necessary  before  our  entrance  into  heaven.  Christ  him- 
self our  forerunner,  and  the  'captain  of  our  salvation,  was 
made  perfect  through  his  sufferings,'  and  was  trained  up 
for  his  throne  on  high  by  enduring  the  contradiction  of 
sinners,  and  the  variety  of  agonies  which  attended  his  life 
and  death  in  this  lower  world,  this  stage  of  conflict  and 
sufferings.  See  Heb.  ii.  10.  and  xii.  1. 

Though  we  cannot  pretend  by  our  labours  in  the  race 
to  have  merited  the  prize,  yet  we  must  labour  through  the 
race  before  w,e  receive  it.  Our  conflicts  cannot  pretend 
to  have  deserved  the  crown  which  is  promised,  but  we 
must  fight  the  battles  of  the  Lord  before  we  obtain  it 
This  was  St.  Paul's  encouragement  and  hope,  2  Tim.  iv. 
7,  8,  "I  have  fought  the  good  fight,  I  have  finished  my 
course,  I  have  kept  the  faith,  henceforth  there  is  laid  up 
for  me  a  crown  of  righteousness,  which  the  Lord  the  right- 
eous Judge  will  give  me,  and  not  to  me  only,  but  to  all 
those  who  love  his  appearance."  There  is  a  great  deal 
of  divine  wisdom  in  this  appointment,  that  the  children 
of  God  may  be  "counted  in  this  sense,  worthy  of  his 
kingdom  for  which  they  also  suffer,"  2  Thes.  i.  5,  and 
that  the  relish  of  those  satisfactions  may  be  doubled  to  all 
the  sufferers. 

8.  God  yet  further  prepares  and  works  up  his  people 
for  heaven,  by  'teaching  them  some  of  the  employments 
of  the  heavenly  world,  and  initiating  and  inuring  them  to 
the  practice  thereof.'  Is  the  'contemplation  of  the  blessed 
God*  in  his  nature  and  his  various  perfections  the  business 
of  glorified  souls  ?  God  teaches  his  children,  whom  he  is 
training  up  for  glory,  to  practice  this  holy  contemplation. 
He  fixes  their  thoughts  upon  the  wonders  of  his  nature 
and  his  grace,  his  works  of  creation  and  providence,  the 
blessings  of  his  redeeming  love  by  his  Son  Jesus,  and  the 
terrors  of  his  justice  which  shall  be  executed  by  the  same 
hand,  while  the  soul  at  the  same  time  can  appeal  to  God 
with  holy  delight,  'My  meditation  of  thee  shall  be  sweet 
indeed ;'  0  may  I  dwell  for  ever  in  the  midst  of  thy  light, 
and  see  all  thy  wondrous  glories  diffused  around  me,  and 
make  my  joys  everlasting! 

Are  we  told  that  heaven  consists  also  in  "beholding  the 
glory  of  Christ?"  John  xvii.  24.  And  how  happily  does 


160         A  SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN. 

God  prepare  his  saints  for  this  part  of  heaven,  by  filling 
their  thoughts  with  the  various  graces  and  honours  of 
Jesus  the  Saviour  ?  And  when  they  are  in  their  lonely 
retirements,  they  trace  the  footsteps  of  their  Beloved 
through  all  his  labours  and  sorrows  in  this  mortal  state, 
even  from  his  cradle  to  his  cross  ;  they  follow  him  in  then 
holy  meditations  to  his  agonies  in  the  garden,  to  his  an- 
guish of  soul  there ;  through  all  his  sufferings  in  death, 
through  the  grave  his  bed  of  darkness,  and  trace  him  on 
still  to  his  glorious  resurrection,  and  to  his  ascent  to  his 
Father's  house,  when  a  bright  cloud  like  a  chariot  bore 
him  up  to  heaven  with  attending  angels.  'This  is  my 
beloved,'  says  the  soul,  and  'this 'is  my  friend,'  whom  I 
shall  see  with  joy  in  the  upper  world.  £Le  is  altogether 
lovely,  and  he  demands  my  highest  love. 

Is  it  part  of  the  happiness  of  heaven  to  '  converse  with 
the  blessed  God  by  holy  addresses  of  acknowledgements 
and  praise,'  as  it  is  described  in  Rev.  iv.  and  v.  and  vii.  ? 
"They  are  before  the  throne  of  God  day  and  night,  and 
serve  him  in  his  temple ;"  and  join  with  holy  joy  to  pro- 
nounce that  divine  song,  "  SJessmg  and  h™-;^  anil  glory 
and  power,  be  to  him  that  sitteth  on  the  throne,  and  to 
the  Lamb  for  ever  and  ever:  worthy  art  thou,  0  Lord,  to 
receive  glory  and  honour,  for  thou  hast  created  all  things 
for  thy  pleasure :  worthy  is  the  Lamb  that  was  slain,  to 
receive  power,  and  riches,  and  strength,  glory  and  bless- 
ing ;  for  thou  wast  slain,  and  hast  redeemed  us  unto  God 
by  thy  blood  out  of  every  kindred  and  nation."     Now  it 
is  evident  that  those  whose  hearts  and  lips  are  joyfully 
fitted  to  pronounce  this  holy  song,  and  to  join  in  this  har- 
mony, are  fitted  also  for  these  blessed  employments  of  the 
heavenly  state.     And  yet  at  the  same  time  they  abase 
themselves  in  the  dust  of  humility,  and  with  the  living 
creatures  or  angels  they  fall  down  before  the  throne,  and 
with  the  elders  they  cast  down  their  crowns  at  his  foot, 
they  confess  themselves  the  sons  of  earth  and  dust,  and 
would  appear  as  nothing  while  God  is  all,  Rev.  iv.  9,  10. 
and  v.  8. 

Are  all  the  powers  of  glorified  nature  in  heaven  active 
in  the  unknown  services  of  God  and  Christ  there?  So 
the  saints  are  trained  up  for  this  service  and  this  activity 
here  on  earth,  by  diligence  and  delight  in  their  less  noble 
employments,  the  inferior  labors  and  duties  that  provi- 


A  SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN.  161 

dence  demands  of  them  here,  whereby  they  are  prepared 
for  more  glorious  employment  on  high ;  for  heaven  is  no 
idle  or  unactive  state. 

Do  some  of  the  satisfactions  of  the  heavenly  world  arise 
from  the  '  sweet  society  of  the  blessed  above,  their  fervent 
love  to  each  other,  their  mutual  delight  in  holy  converse, 
the  joy  that  arises  in  the  heart  of  each  upon  a  survey  of 
the  happiness  of  all  the  holy  and  blessed  inhabitants  ? 
Does  benevolence  and  goodness  of  every  kind  overflow 
in  the  heavenly  world  ?'  It  is  plain  that  God  is  training 
up  his  own  children  for  this  blessedness,  by  employing 
them  in  this  manner  while  they  are  here  below.  He  is  in 
some  measure  fitted  for  this  heaven,  who  can  say,  the 
'saints  are  the  excellent  of  the  earth,  in  whom  is  all  my 
delight:'  I  love  them  from  my  soul,  because  they  Icve  my 
God  and  my  Saviour.  I  see  the  image  of  the  Father,  and 
of  Jesus  his  Son  in  them,  and  I  cannot  but  love  that  image 
wheresoever  I  behold  it.  I  feel  myself  ready  to  rejoice 
when  my  fellow  Christians  partake  of  joy,  and  I  long  for 
that  temper  of  mind  when  I  shall  delight  myself  in  the 
felicity  of  all  my  fellow  saints  in  perfection,  and  shall  make 
their  heaven  a  part  of  my  own.  But  I  proceed  not  here, 
because  this  would  anticipate  what  I  design  hereafter. 

9.  God  is  pleased  to  work  up  his  people  to  a  preparation 
for  the  heavenly  state,  by  'giving  them  a  pledge  and 
earnest  of  the  blessedness  of  heaven/  that  is,  by  sending 
his  o\vn  Spirit  into  their  hearts  under  this  very  character, 
both  as  the  spring  of  div.ine  life,  and  as  the  evidence  of 
our  hope,  and  sometimes  bestowing  upon  them  such  'fore- 
tastes of  the  heavenly  world,'  by  the  operations  of  his 
holy  Sf  irit,  which  are  too  joyful  and  glorious  to  be  fully 
expressed  in  mortal  language ;  but  we  shall  attempt  some- 
thing of  it  in  another  discourse. 

I  proceed  now  to  seek  what  inferences  or  edifying, 
remarks  may  be  made  upon  our  meditations  thus  far. 

Rem.  1.  We  learn  from  my  text  'what  aie  the  brightest, 
the  plainest,  and  the  surest  evidences  of  our  interest  in 
the  heavenly  blessedness.  Are  we  trained  up  to  it,  and 
prepared  for  it  ?'  Has  the  blessed  God  wrought  up  our 
souls  to  any  hopeful  degrees  of  this  preparation  ?  Has  he 
in  any  measure  made  us  meet  for  this  inheritance  of  the 
saints  in  light? 

I  grant  the  scripture  teaches  us,  that  it  is  by  a  true  and 
21  02 


162  A  SOtJL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN. 

living  faith  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  we  obtain  a  title 
to  eternal  life,  according  to  the  proposals  of  the  covenant 
of  grace  in  the  gospel ;  but  our  preparation  for  heaven  by 
a  holy  and  heavenly  temper  of  mind  and  conduct  of  life, 
is  the  fairest  and  most  uncontested  evidence  of  the  truth 
and  life  of  our  faith,  and  such  a  proof  of  it  as  will  stand 
the  test  both  in  life  and  death,  in  this  world,  and  in  the 
world  to  come.  If  we  would  manifest  our  faith  in  Christ 
to  be  sincere  and  genuine  and  effectual  for  our  salvation, 
we  must  make  it  appear  that  we  are  growing  up  into  the 
image  of  Christ  in  all  things,  we  must  be  formed  after  the 
likeness  of  the  Son  of  God,  who  is  our  great  example,  and 
our  fore-runner  into  heaven  ;  and  where  this  evidence  is 
found  the  soul  cannot  fail  of  salvation.  Wheresoever  there 
is  this  fitness  for  the  joys  on  high,  God  will  assuredly 
bestow  these  divine  pleasures.  It  is  for  such  souls  that  he 
has  prepared  a  heaven,  and  when  he  has  prepared  such 
souls  for  the  heavenly  world,  he  will  surely  bring  them 
to  the  possession  of  it. 

Of  how  great  moment  and  importance  is  it  then  for  each 
of  us  to  examine  ourselves  with  watchful  diligence  and 
sincerity,  whether  we  are  in  any  measure  fitted  for  the 
blessedness  above  :  and  to  this  end  we  may  run  over  in 
our  enquiries  all  the  former  steps  of  preparation. 

Let  us  enquire  of  our  souls  then,  Am  I  so  fully  persua- 
ded of  this  state  of  future  happiness,  as  to  resolve  this 
shall  be  my  aim,  this  my  everlasting  pursuit  ?    Have  we 
seen  this  blessedness  in  the  various  representations  of  it 
in  the  word  of  God,  as  the  most  amiable  and  desirable 
thing,  and  have  we  set  our  faces  to  travel  thither  with  an 
holy  purpose  and  determination,  through  grace,  never  to 
tire,  or  grow  weary  till  vye  arrive  at  the  enjoyment  of  it  ? 
Have  we  fined  our  hope '-.and  expectation  upon  the  blessed 
'  promises   in  the  word,   and  are  we  by  these   promises 
endeavouring  daily  to  cleanse  ourselves  from  all  defilements 
of  flesh  and  spirit,  and  to  perfect  holiness  in  the  fear  of 
God  ?  Do  we  obtain  any  victories  over  our  spiritual  ene- 
mies, and  maintain  our  pious  conflicts  against  all  the  op- 
positions which  we  meet  with  in  our  way  ?  Do  we  labour 
to  suppress  every  rising  ferment  of  envy,  pride,  wrath, 
sensuality,  and  those  corrupt  appetites  and  passions  which 
render  us  unfit  for  that  holy  and  heavenly  world  ?    Are 
our  hearts  daily  more  mortified  to  the  things  of  this  world, 


A  SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN.         163 

the  enjoyments  of  flesh  and  sense,  which  are  not  to  be 
found  in  heaven  ?  Are  our  hearts  more  weaned  from  the 
sensual  satisfactions  and  intemperate  delights  of  the  ani- 
mal life  ?  Are  we  dead  to  the  temptations  of  gold  and 
silver,  the  grandeurs  and  the  gaieties,  and  splendors  of  this 
present  low  life  of  flesh  and  blood,  which  are  no  part  nor 
portion  of  the  heavenly  felicity  ?  Do'  we  view  the  temp- 
ting things  of  this  world  with  an  holy  indifference,  and 
possess  and  use  them  with  affections  so  calm  and  so  cool, 
as  becomes  a  rank  of  beings  that  have  a  nobler,  a  richer, 
and  a  more  exalted  hope  ?  Have  we  found  the  labours 
and  burdens,  the  sorrows  and  afflictions  of  the  present 
state,  happy  instruments  to  prepare  us  for  the  blessedness 
above,  by  curing  all  our  vain  and  carnal  desires  ?  Are  we 
in  any  measure  imitators  of  those  who  have  gone  before 
us  through  faith  and  patience,  and  are  made  possessors  of 
the  promised  joy  ?  Are  we  "followers  of  God  as  dear 
children  ?"  Have  we  the  image  of  our  heavenly  Father 
created  anew  in  us,  and  do  we  walk  as  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  also  walked,  while  he  was  in  this  wilderness  travel- 
ling to  IKS  Father's  house  ?  Are  our  earnest  desires  towards 
this  sort  of  felicity  excited  and  raised  high  ?  Have  we  a 
strong  tendency  of  soul  to  the  holy  enjoyments  of  the 
upper  world  ?  Do  we  sigh  and  groan  after  a  complete  free- 
dom from  sin,  and  a  deliverance  from  every  temptation  ? 
Do  we  employ  ourselves  with  pleasure  in  the  work  and 
business  of  heaven,  in  the  holy  contemplation  of  God,  in 
a  delightful  survey  of  the  person  and  offices  of  his  Son 
Jesus,  his  wondrous  condescension,  and  his  amazing  com- 
passion ?  Do  we  take  pleasure  in  conversing  with  God  our 
Father  by  holy  addresses  of  praise  and  thankfulness  ?  Do 
we  love  all  the  saints,  and  delight  in  their  society,  and  do 
we  rejoice  to  spend  our  time  with  them  in  heavenly  con- 
versation, though  they  may  be  among  the  lower  ranks  of 
life  here  on  earth  ?  And  do  we  diffuse  our  love  through 
all  who  wear  the  image  of  God,  and  take  a  pleasing  satis- 
faction of  soul  in  their  increase  in  holiness,  and  rejoice  in 
their  joys? 

If  God  has  thus  fitted  thee,  0  Christian,  in  this  manner 
for  the  mansions  of  the  happy  world,  then  surely  he  has 
set  thee  apart  for  himself,  he  has  begun  eternal  life  in  thee, 
the  dawn  of  eternal  glory  is  risen  upon  thee,  and  he  will 
bring  thee  into  the  complete  noon  of  blessedness,  into  the 


164  A  SOTTL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEJT. 

overflowing  light  of  divine  beatitudes.  "Arise  and  shine," 
0  Christian,  for  thy  light  is  come,  "the  glory  of  the  Lord 
is  risen  upon  thee;"  thou  hast  no  need  to  ascend  into  heaven 
to  search  for  thy  evidences  among  the  decrees  of  God, 
and  to  pry  into  the  rolls  of  electing  grace ;  for  if  thou  hast 
been  transformed  into  an  heavenly  temper,  thy  name  is 
surely  written  in  the  Lamb's  book  of  life;  heaven  is  begun 
within  thee,  and  God  will  fulfil  his  own  work. 

jRem.  2.  'What  a  solid  comfort  is  it  to  poor  mourning, 
troubled,  afflicted  souls  under  all  their  sorrows,  their 
frailties,  their  temptations,  and  infirmities  here  on  earth, 
that  they  have  a  clear  evidence  of  heaven  within  them.' 
This  is  such  a  peace  as  Jesus  Christ  left  to  his  disciples  by 
legacy,  John  x'iv.  27.  "Such  as  the  world  cannot  give," 
and  such  as  the  world  cannot  take  away. 

This  is  a  spring  of  constant  and  divine  consolation  to 
those  who  seem  to  be  worn  out  with  old  age  or  infirmities 
of  nature,  and  who  complain  they  are  fit  for  n^service  in 
this  world  ;  but  if  they  can  feel  in  themselves  this  holy 
fitness  for  the  enjoyments  of  heaven,  they  have  a  rich  and 
living  fountain  of  pleasure  in  their  own  breasts,  ever 
springing,  ever  flowing,  and  such  as  will  follow  them  with 
daily  supplies  of  pleasure,  if  they  are  not  wanting  to  them- 
selves, through  all  this  wilderness,  till  they  arrive  at  that 
land  were  all  the  rivers  of  blessing  meet  and  join  in  a  full 
stream,  to  make  the  inhabitants  for  ever  happy. 

It  may  be,  0  Christian,  thou  art  afraid  that  thou  hast 
felt  but  little  of  this 'divine  preparation;  thou  seest  so 
many  defects  irt  thyself  daily,  so  much  unlikeness  to  God, 
so  much  working  of  iniquity,  such  restless  efforts  of  the 
body  of  sin,  so  much  prevalence  of  temptation,  so  much 
coldness  in  duty,  such  deadness  in  acts  of  devotion,  such 
frequent  returns  of  guilt  and  pain  in  a  tender  conscience, 
and  so  many  enemies  to  struggle  with  every  step  of  thy 
way  to  heaven,  that  thou  art  greatly  discouraged  and  afraid 
this  divine  preparation  is  not  wrought  in  thee.  Enquire 
then  yet  further,  are  all  these  melancholy  scenes  both 
within  and  without,  the  matter  of  thy  sincere  grief  and 
burden  ?  Canst  thou  say  in  this  tabernacle,  I  groan,  being 
burdened  with  the  body  of  sin,  as  well  as  with  the  frailties 
and  pains  of  nature  ?  Canst  thou  say  sincerely,  that  thy 
inmost  desires  are  towards  God  and  his  glory  in  the  pre- 
sent life,  and  towards  his  enjoyment  in  the  life  to  come  ? 


A  SOUL  PREPARED  FOK  HEAVEN.          165 

Dost  thou  maintain  a  constant  converse  with  heaven  as 
well  as  thou  canst,  though  it  be  so  much  broken,  and  so 
often  painfully  interrupted  ?  Hast  thou  a  continual  and 
settled  aversion  and  hatred  to  sin,  and  a  holy  jealousy  and 
fear  of  its  defilements  ?  Hast  thou  a  restless  breathing  of 
soul  after  greater  likeness  to  God,  and  greater  communion 
with  him  ?  Dost  thou  delight  irj  spiritual  and  holy  con- 
versation ;  and  does  thy  zeal  for  the  honour  of  God  and 
his  Son  Jesus,  carry  thee  forth  to  those  actions  which  are 
suitable  to  thy  station,  for  the  advancement  of  religion  in 
the  world  ?  .Be  assured  then  that  God  is  training  thee  up 
for  this  heavenly  state,  and  has  in  some  measure  prepared 
thee  for  it.  God  has  begun  in  thee  the  business  and  bles- 
sedness of  the  upper  world.  In  the  midst  of  all  thy  sor- 
rows and  complaints  here  below,  peace  be  with  thee,  and 
joy  in  the  Lord,  for  thy  salvation  and  thy  felicity  shall 
be  completed. 

Rem.  3.  '  How  vain,  and  idle,  and  unreasonable  are  all 
the  hopes  of  sinners,  that  they  shall  ever  arrive  at  heaven 
without  any  preparation  for  it  here?'  There  is  nothing 
uiviii'  _;m  in  them  in  this  world,  and  yet  they 

hope  to  be  made  happy  in  the  \vorld  that  is  to  come  ;  there 
is  nothing  of  true  grace  in  their  hearts  here,  and  yet  they 
vainly  expect  to  be  made  perfect  in  pleasure  and  glory 
hereafter. 

Think  with  thyself,  0  carnal  creature,  that  heaven 
will  be  a  burden  to  thee  ;  the  powers,  the  appetites,  and 
passions  of  thy  sinful  nature,  will  r.ot  suffer  thee  to  relish 
the  joys  of  the  heavenly  state.  Dost  thou  imagine  that  a 
worm  or  serpent  of  the  earth,  or  a  swine  which  is  ever  tum- 
bling in  the  mire,  can  be  entertained  with  the  golden  orna- 
ments and  splendors  of  a  palace  ?  Or  will  the  stupid  ass  be  de- 
lighted with  the  harmony  of  a  harp  Or  viol?  No  more 
can  a  soul  of  a  carnal  and  sensual  taste,  and  which  is  ever 
seeking  and  groveling  after  earthly  gratifications,  be  pleas- 
ed or  gratified  with  the  refined  enjoyments  of  the  heaven- 
ly world.  Thou  must  have  a  new  nature,  new  appetites 
and  affections,  ere  thou  canst  partake  of  divine  joys,  or  re- 
ish  them  if  thou  wert  placed  in  the  midst  of  them.  Holy 
adoration  of  God,  and  humble  converse  with  him  in  wor- 
ship, converse  with  the  saints  about  divine  things,  perfect 
purity  and  devotion,  with  the  meditation  of  the  excellen- 
cies of  Christ,  and  the  sight  of  him  in  his  ordinances,  have 


166  A  SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN. 

never  yet  been  the  object  of  tby  delight  or  joy ;  nay  they 
have  rather  been  thine  aversion ;  and  shouldst  thou  have 
the  gates  of  heaven  open  before  thee,  and  see  what  busi- 
ness the  holy  souls  there  are  employed  in,  thou  wouldst 
find  no  desire  to  such  sort  of  satisfactions ;  the  place  and 
the  company  would  be  thy  burden,  if  thou  couldst  be  let 
at  once  into  the  midst  of  them. 

Think  again,  0  sinful  wretch,  thy  carnality  of  soul,  thy 
supreme  love  of  sensual  and  brutal  joys,  the  secret  malice 
or  envy,  the  pride  and  impiety  of  thy  heart,  have  prepar- 
ed thee  for  another  sort  of  company ;  thou  art  fitted  for 
hell  by  the  very  temper  of  thy  spirit,  for  such  are  the  in- 
habitants of  that  miserable  world,  and  in  thy  present  state 
there  can  be  no  admission  for  thee  into  heaven.  Thou 
hast  treasured  up  food  for  the  worm  that  never  dies,  for 
the  eternal  anguish  of  conscience ;  thou  hast  made  thyself 
fit  fuel  by  indulgence  of  thy  sinful  and  rebellious  appetites 
and  passions,  for  the  fiery  indignation  of  God  ;  and  every 
day  thou  persistest  in  this  state,  thy  preparation  for  the 
dark  regions  of  sin  and  sorrow  is  increased.  But  this  leads 
me  to  the  last  remark. 

Rem,  4.  <  How  dangerous  a  thing  it  is  for  a  sinner  to 
continue  a  day  longer  in  a  state  so  unprepared  for  the  hea- 
venly world.'  Dost  thou  not  know,  whilst  we  are  inhab- 
itants in  these  regions  of  mortality,  we  are  borderers  up- 
on death  ;  and  if  we  are  unprepared  for  heaven,  we  are 
borderers  upon  damnation  and  hell  ?  Our  life  is  but  a 
vapour,  and  the  next  puff  may  blow  us  away  into  the  re- 
gions of  everlasting  darkness,  misery,  and  despair. 

Alas!  how  much  of  this  divine  preparation  do  the  best 
of  saints  stand  in  need  of  for  an  immediate  entrance  into 
heaven  ?  What  care  do  they  take,  how  constant  are  their 
labours,  and  how  fervent  their  prayers  to  increase  in  this 
divine  fitness,  in  these  holy  and  heavenly  qualifications  ? 
And  dost  thou  vainly  imagine  to  exchange  earth  for  hea- 
ven at  once,  and  to  be  received  into  the  pure  and  holy 
mansions  of  paradise  without  any  conformity  to  God  or 
Christ,  or  the  rest  of  the  inhabitants  of  that  world. 

Objection.  But  some  idle  and  slothful  creatures  will  be 
ready  to  object  and  say,  If  it  be  God  who  creates  his  peo- 
ple anew,  according  to  his  own  image,  and  fits  them  for 
heaven  :  if  we  must  be  wrought  up  by  his  power  and 
grace  for  the  participation  of  this  glory,  what  can  we  do 


• 

A  SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEX.         167 

towards  it  ourselves  ?  Or  why  are  we  charged  and  exhor- 
ted to  prepare  ourselves  for  heaven  ?  Since  then  it  is 
God  that  must  do  this  work,  why  may  we  not  lie  still,  and 
wait  till  his  grace  shall  prepare  us  ? 

I  answer,  no,  by  no  means  ;  for  God  is  wont  to  exert 
nis  grace  only  while  creatures  are  in  the  use  of  his  appoint- 
ments, and  fulfil  their  duty.  This  language  therefore,  and 
these  excuses,  seem  to  be  the  mere  cavils  of  a  carnal 
mind,  or  the  voice  of  sloth  and  indolence.  Those  who 
have  no  inclination  to  prepare  themselves  for  the  joys  of 
the  heavenly  state,  may  wait  and  expect  divine  influences 
in  vain,  if  they  will  never  stir  up  themselves  to  practise 
what  is  in  their  power,  and  to  attempt  what  the  gospel  of 
grace  demands. 

In  almost  all  the  transactions  of  God  with  men,  it  is  the 
way  of  his  wisdom  to  join  our  diligence  and  his  grace  to- 
gether ;  and  there  are  many  Scriptures  that  give  us  suffi- 
cient notice  of  this.  See  how  St.  Paul  argues  with  the 
Philippians,  and  stirs  them  up  to  zeal  and  activity  in  secu- 
ring their  own  salvation  by  the  hope  of  divine  assistances, 
Phil.  ii.  12,  13.  "Work  out  your  own  salvation,  for  it  is 
God  that  worketh  in  you  both  to  will  and  to  do."  So 
said  David  to  his  son  Solomon,  when  he  appointed  him  to 
build  the  temple  of  the  Lord,  1  Chron.  xxviii.  20,  "  Be 
strong  and  of  good  courage,  and  do  it, — for  the  Lord  God, 
even  my  God,  will  be  with  thee,  and  will  not  fail  thee,  nor 
forsake  thee,  until  thou  hast  finished  all  the  work."  This 
was  the  charge  also  that  God  gave  to  his  people  Israel, 
Lev.  xx.  7,  8,  "  Sanctify  yourselves  and  be  ye  holy,  keep 
my  statutes ;  I  am  the  Lord  who  sanctifieth  you."  So  the 
Psalmist  tells  us,  Psal.  iv.  3,  "The  Lord  hath  set  apart, 
or  separated  him  who  is  godly  for  himself ;"  and  yet, 
2  Cor.  vi.  17,  The  Lord  commands  his  people  to  "separate 
themselves"  unto  him,  to  "  come  out  from  among"  the 
sinners  of  this  world;  and  "be  you  separate,"  saith  the 
Lord,  "  and  I  will  receive  you."  So  in  other  places  of 
Scripture,  divine  wisdom  commands  sinners  to  fulfil  their 
duty,  Prov.  i.  23,  "Turn  ye  at  my  reproof;"  and  yet  in 
the  80th  Psalm,  the  church  prays,  "  Turn  us,  0  Lord,  and 
we  shall  be'  saved."  The  case  is  very  much  the  same  ev- 
en in  the  things  that  relate  to  this  life,  wherein  divine  assis- 
tance and  blessing  are  connected  with  our  diligence  in  du- 
ty. Solomon  tells  us,  Prov.  x.  4,  "The  hand  of  the  dil- 


168  A  SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN. 

igent  maketh  rich  ;"  and  yet  ver.  22,  it  is  "the  blessing  of 
the  Lord  that  maketh  rich  also."  We  can  never  expect 
the  favours  of  heaven,  unless  we  are  zealous  to  obey  the 
commands  of  heaven. 

When  the  sinful  children  of  men  are  found  waiting  on 
God  in  his  own  appointed  ordinances,  then  they  are  in  the 
fairest  way  to  receive  divine  communications,  and  be 
transformed  into  saints.  If  the  blind  man  had  not  obeyed 
the  voice  of  Christ,  John  ix.  7,  and  washed  himself  'in  the 
pool  of  Siloam,'  he  could  not  expect  to  have  received  his 
eye-sight.  If  the  man  with  the  withered  hand,  Matth. 
xii.  10,  13,  had  not  used  his  own  endeavours  to  'stretch 
forth  his  hand'  at  the  command  of  Christ,  I  can  hardly  be- 
lieve it  would  have  been  restored  to  its  ancient  vigour  and 
usefulness.  If  the  poor  impotent  creature  had  not  been 
waiting  at  the  side  of  the  'pool  in  Bethesda,'  John  v.  he 
had  not  met  with  the  blessed  Jesus,  nor  been  healed  by 
his  miraculous  power.  You  will  say,  perhaps,  that  our 
blessed  Saviour  could  have  visited  Kim  in  his  own  house, 
could  have  directed  his  journey  towards  his  habitation,  or 
have  sent  for  him  into  the  public,  and  healed  him  there. 
No,  our  Lord  did  not  choose  either  of  these  ways  ;  but 
while  the  man  was  waiting  at  the  pool,  where  he  had  en- 
couragement to  hope  for  a  cure,  there  the  Lord  found  him, 
and  healed  him. 

Let  not  any  presuming  sinner  therefore,  who  is  sensible 
of  his  own  unfitness  for  heaven,  dare  to  continue  in  a  care- 
less indifference  about  so  important  a  concern.  Let  him 
not  put  off  his  own  conscience  with  this  foolish  excuse, 
'It  is  God  that  must  do  all  in  us  and  for  us,  and  therefore 
I  will  do  nothing  myself.'  Dost  thou  think,  O  soul,  that 
this  will  be  a  sufficient  answer  to  him  that  shall  judge  thee 
in  the  great  and  solemn  day  ?  May  you  not  expect  to 
hear  the  Judge  reply  terribly  to  such  an  excuse,  'You 
never  sought  after  this  preparation  for  heaven,  and  you 
must  be  plunged  into  hell,  for  which  your  own  rebellion 
and  slothfulness  have  prepared  you.' 

But  perhaps  you  will  object  again,  what  can  so  feeble, 
so  sinful  a  creature  as  I  am,  do  towards  this  divine  work  ? 

I  answer,  Canst  thou  not  separate  one  quarter  of  an 
hour  daily  to  think  of  thy  dreadful  circumstances,  and 
thine  eternal  danger  in  a  sinful  and  defiled  state  of  soul  ? 
Think  of  the  uncertainty  of  life,  and  how  sudden  thy  sum- 


A  SOUL  PREPARED  FOB  HEAVEN.  169 

mons  may  be  kito  the  eternal  and  unchangeable  state. 
Survey  thyself  in  thy  sinful  condition  both  of  heart  and  life, 
and  see  how  unfit  thou  art  for  the  company  of  all  the  holy 
ones  above.  Meditate  on  these  thy  perilous  circumstances, 
till  thy  heart  be  deeply  affected  therewith  ;  fall  down  be- 
fore God  in  humble  acknowledgment  of  thy  former  guilt 
and  pollutions ;  give  up  thyself  to  him  with  holy  solemni- 
ty, to  have  thy  heart  turned  away  from  every  sin,  and 
strongly  inclined  .to  holiness  and  heaven.  Commit  thy 
soul,  guilty  and  defiled  as  it  is,  into  the  hands  of  Jesus  the 
Mediator  ;  entrust  thy  case  with  him  as  an  all-sufficient 
Saviour  ;  entreat  that  he  would  cleanse  thee  from  all  thy 
guilt  and  pollution,  by  the  blood  of  his  sacrifice,  and  the 
grace  of  his  Spirit ;  that  blood  of  atonement  which  has 
procured  for  sinners  pardon  and  peace  with  God,  and 
those  operations  of  his  grace  which  may  sanctify  thy  sin- 
ful nature.  Address  thyself  to  the  exalted  Saviour  for 
healing  influences  from  his  htmd,  to  cure  all  the  maladies 
of  thy  soul,  to  form  thee  after  his  image,  and  to  make  thee 
a  son  oT  God.  Pray  with  hoJy  importunity  for  this  ne- 
cessary and  divine  blessing ;  wait  on  God  in  secret  and  in 
public ;  give  him  no  rest  night  nor  day  till  he  has  renew- 
ed thy  soul,  and  transformed  thee  into  a  new  creature,  and 
given  thee  a  relish  of  the  heavenly  enjoyments.  Dwell 
at  the  throne  of  grace  till  thou  feelest  thy  heart  drawn  up- 
ward and  heavenward,  and  watch  against  every  thing  that 
would  defile  thy  soul  anew, 'or  make  thee  unfit  to  enter 
into  the  company  of  the  blessed. 

Permit  me  here  to  dwell  a  little  upon  those  motives 
that  should  awaken  thee  to  bethink  thyself  ere  it  be  too 
late,  before  the  grave  has  shut  its  mouth  upon  thee,  and 
thou  art  consigned  to  the  place  of  eternal  misery.  Awake, 
awake,  0  impenitent  sinners,  who  are  as  yet  unprepared 
for  the  business  and  blessedness  of  the  heavenly  state  ; 
awake  and  exert  your  souls  in  warmest  reflections  on  mat- 
ters of  infinite  importance. 

(1.)  Think  with  yourselves  how  much  the  great  God 
has  done  towards  the  preparation  of  sinful  men  for  this 
heaven;  think  seriously  of  his  long-suffering  goodness, 
and  his  sparing  mercy,  which  should  have  led  you  long 
ago  to  a  melting  sense  of  your  own  folly,  and  brought  you 
back  unto  him  by  humble  repentance.  For  what  reason 
were  his  patience  and  his  long-suffering  exercised  towards 
22  P 


170         A  SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN. 

you,  if  not  for  this  very  purpose  ?  Rom.  ii.  4.  Think  of 
the  blessings  of  nature  with  which  he  has  surrounded  you, 
and  the  comforts  of  this  life  wherewith'  he  has  furnished 
you,  in  order  to  allure  your  thoughts  towards  him,  who  is 
the  spring  of  all  goodness  ;  and  to  raise  your  desires  to- 
wards him.  It  is  he  that  invites  you, 'who  will  Be  the 
everlasting  portion  and  happiness  of  his  people,  and  in 
whose  favour  consists  life  and  felicity ;  and  dare  not  any 
longer  neglect  your  preparation  for  this  happiness,  which 
consists  in  the  enjoyment'of  God,  lest  you  should  be  cut 
off  before  you'  are  prepared. 

(2.)  Consider  again  what  Jesus  the  Son  of  God  has  done 
and  suffered, 'and  consider  what  he  is  yet  doing  towards 
the  preparation  of  souls  for  heaven.     He  came  down  to 
our  world  to  undertake  the  glorious  and  dreadful  work  of 
the  redemption  of  sinners  from  the  curse  of  the  law  and 
the  terrors  of  hell,  and  to  procure  a  heaven  for  every  re- 
bellious creature  that  would  return  to  God  his  Father. 
Think  of  the  agonies  of  his  death  with  which  he  pur- 
chased mansions  of  glory  for  those  that  receive  his  grace 
in  his  own  appointed  methods^  those  that  are  willing  to 
have  their  hearts  and  minds  formed  into  a  suitable  frame 
to  receive  this  felicity.     Remember  that  he  is  risen  from 
the  dead,  he  is  ascended  to  prepare  a  place  in  glory  for 
those  that  are  willing  to  follow  him  through  the  paths  of 
holiness.     Hearken  to  the  many  kind  invitations  and  al- 
lurements of  his  gospel,  which  calls  to  the  worst  of  sinners 
to  return  and  live,  and  entreats  and  exhorts  those  who  are. 
in  the  ends  of  the  earth,  and  upon  the  borders  t>f  hell,  "to 
look  unto  him  that  they  may  be  saved,"    Isa.  xlv.  22. 
Take  heed  that  you  suffer  not  these  seasons  of  his  inviting 
love'  to  slide  away  .and  vanish  unimproved  ;  take  heed 
how  you  rebel  against  the  language  of  the  grace  of  h'is 
gospel,  and  thereby  prepare  yourselves  for  double  and 
everlasting  destruction. 

(3.)  Think  again,  what  blessed  assistances  he. has  pro- 
posed to  those  who  are  desirous  to  be  trained  up  for  hea- 
ven ;  how  many  thousand  souls,  as  carnal,  as  sensual,  and 
as  criminal  as  yours  are,  have  been  recovered  by  the  word 
of  his  gospel,  and  the  influences  of  his  Spirit,  to  a  new  na- 
ture and  life  of  holiness  ?  How  many  are  there  who  from 
children  of  wrath,  have  become  the  sons  and  daughters 
of  the  most  high  God,  heirs  of  this  blessedness,  and  pre- 


A  SOTJL  PREPARED  TOR  HEAVEN.  171 

pared  for  the  enjoyment  of  it?     0  take  heed  that  you 
resist  not  this  grace,  nor  rebel  against  the  kind  and  sacred 
motions  of  the  •  blessed  Spirit  within  you,  when  his  very 
office  and  business  is  to  change  your  sinful  natures,  and  to 
prepare  you  for  the  regions  of  eternal  holiness  and  peace. 
(4.)  Think  yet  further  what  advantages  you  have  had 
from  the  weekly  ministrations  of  the  word  of  grace,  from 
reading  the  book  of  God  in  your  own  language,  and  from 
the  pious  education  many  of  you  have  enjoyed  in  the 
families  from  whence  you  sprung.     Think  what  awaken- 
ing hints  you  have  received  by  the  inward  conviction  of 
your  own  consciences,  and  by  the  Christian  friends  you 
may  have  conversed  with.     Have  you  not  been  told  plain- 
ly enough  by  the  voice  of  conscience,  that  you  are  now 
utterly  unprepared  for  heaven  ?     Have  not  public  and  pri- 
vate admonitions  given  you"  sufficient  warning  of  the  dan- 
ger-of  your  present  state?     And  after  all  this  will  you 
proceed  in  your  own  sinful  course  till  you  arrive  at  the  very 
gates  of  hell  and  destruction,  till  you  have  prepared  your- 
selves, and  made  your  souls  ripe  for  the  vengeance  of  God, 
and  are  plunged  into  it  by  death  without  remedy  or  relief? 
(5.)  Consider  how  dreadful  will  your  state  be  if  death 
meet  you  in  all  your  guilt  and  defilements,  unwashed, 
unpardoned,  and  unsanctified,   without  any  garment  of 
righteousness,  without  any  robe  of  salvation.  What  a  ter- 
rible sentence   is  that  which  death  will  pronounce  upon 
every  such  sinner  the  moment  that  he  strikes  their  heart  ? 
Hear  it  and  tremble,   0  miserable  creature,  hear  the  for- 
midable and  eternal  sentence,  "Let  him  that  is  unholy  be 
unholy  still  :"  let  him  that  is  unprepared  for  heaven  go 
down  to  the  regions  of  death  and  hell,  for  which  his  ini- 
quities have  best  prepared  him. 

(6. )  Think  with  yourselves,  if  you  have  any  thing  of 
importance  to  do  in  this  world,  or  have  any  momentous 
scene  of  life  to  pass  through,  how  diligent  are  you  in  pre- 
paration for  it.  If  you  are  but  to  visit  the  court  of  a  prince, 
or  to  go  to  make  your  addresses  to  any  great  man  of  honour 
and  power,  or  to  be  admitted  into  any  numerous  society 
of  a  superior  character,  how  diligently  do  yqu  endeavour 
to  furnish  yourselves  with  such  knowledge  of  the  common 
ceremonies  of  life,  and  such  ornaments  about  your  body 
as  may  render  you  acceptable  among  those  whom  you  are 
going  to  converse  with.  And  does  not  an  entrance  into 


172  A  SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN. 

the  court  of  heaven,  into  the  presence  of  a  God  of  holiness, 
and  into  the  society  of  pure  and  blessed  spirits,  require 
some  solicitude  and  care  about  those  ornaments  and  qualifi- 
cations which  are  necessary  for  so  solemn  and  glorious  an 
appearance  ?  If  you  are  designing  in  this  life  to  commence 
any  trade  or  business  for  your  employment  and  your  sup- 
port, you  are  willing  to  serve  an  apprenticeship  of  seven 
years  in  order  to  a  preparation  for  the  exercise  of  this 
public  business;  and  can  you  hot  afford  one  day  in  a  week 
to  learn  the  business  of  heaven,  and  to  prepare  for  the 
blessedness  of  it  ? 

And  let  parents  also  consider  with  themselves  what  pains 
they  have  taken  that  their  children  may  be  fit  for  the  trades 
and  employments  of  life  to  which  they  design  them,  and 
then  let  each  enquire  of  their  own  consciences,  have  J  ever 
done  so  much  to  train  up  my  son  for  the  heavenly  world,  to 
fit  him  for  the  appearance  before  God,  and  saints  and  angels, 
and  for  all  the  unknown  services  of  that  celestial  country? 
(7.J  Go  on  yet  further,  0  impenitent  sinners,   and  con- 
sider with  yourselves  what  a  blessedness  it  is  to  be  pre- 
pared for  heaven  ;  for  then   you  are  prepared   for  death, 
and  at  once  you  take  away  all  the  terrors  of  it.    0  what 
an  unspeakable  happiness  is  it  to  pass  through  this  world 
daily  without  the  fear  of  dying  !    What  is  it  that  makes 
life  so  bitter  to  multitudes  of  souls,  and  'every  malady  or 
accident  so  frightful  to  them,  but  the  perpetual  terrors  of 
death  ?    Think  what  a  divine  satisfaction  it  is  to  walk  up 
and  down   in  this  desert   land,   ready  prepared  for  an 
entrance   into  the  land  of  promise,  the  inheritance  of  the 
saints  in  light.     Think  of  the  solid  joy  and  inward  con- 
solation of  those  souls  who  feel  in  themselves  an  habitual 
readiness  for  a  departure  hence,  and  who  are  wrought  up 
by  divine  grace  to  a  preparation  for  the  business  and  the 
joys  above.  Think  of  the  victory  over  death,  which  is  ob- 
tained by  such  a  readiness  for  heaven,  and  how  glorious  a 
thing  it  is  to  meet  that  last  enemy  the  king  of  terrors,  and 
encounter  him  without  fear,  and  to  triumph  over  him  with 
divine  language,    "0  death,  where  is  thy  sting  ?"  How 
joyful  a  scene  would  it  be  to  take  leave  of  all  our  friends 
in  this  land  of  mortality,  with  an  assured  hope  that  we  are 
entering  into  a  happier  climate  and  a  better  country,  ready 
prepared  for  all  the  more  glorious  scenes  that  shall  meet 
us  in  the  invisible  world  ? 


A  SOUL  PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN.  173 

It  is  an  amazing  thing  to  me,  how  the  children  of  men, 
who  are  dying  daily  off  from  this  stage  of  life,  who  must 
all  shortly  die,  and  enter  into  a  world  of  eternal  futurity, 
should  be  no -more  concerned  about  a  preparation  for  their 
departure  hence  :  that  they  should  be  so  stupidly  thought- 
less of  a  world  to  come,  while  they  are  on  the  very  bor- 
ders of  it,  and  eternal  joy  or  eternal,  sorrow  depends  upon 
this  one  question,  'Am  I  prepared  for  heaven  or  not  ?' 
0  these  two  awful  regions  of  the  unseen  world  ;  where 
the  love  of  God  shines  with  its  brightest  glories,  or  where 
the  vengeance  of  God  is  discovered  in  all  its  anguish  and 
horror!-  One  of  these  will  be  the  certain  and  eternal  dwel- 
ling place  of  the  souls  that  are  prepared  for  them,  and  there 
must  they  pass  their  long  immortality,  either  in  joy  or  in 
sorrow,  without  a  change  ;  and  yet  the  foolish'  and  besotted 
tribes  of  mankind  seem  to  have  abandoned  all  thought  and 
concern  abdutthern.  A  dangerous  lethargy,  or  distraction! 

What  shall  we  do  to  cure  sinners  of  this  madness  ? 
Shall  I  try  to  rouse  these  indolent  unthinking  wretches 
out  of  their  dangerous  and  mortal  slumbers  with  the 
loudest  voice  of  thunder  and  divine  terror  ?  But  the 
lethargy  of  sin  is  proof  against  all  these  terrors  and  thun- 
ders. Shall  I  call  for  a  fountain  of  tears  into  my  eyes, 
and  weep  over  them  with  the  tenderest  sympathy  and 
compassion  ?  But  they  feel  not  any  meltings  of  pity  for 
themselves,  nor  are  their  hearts  to  be  softened  by  all  our 
tears  and  wailings.  Shall  I  'beseech  them'in  the  name  of 
Christ  by  the  bowels  of  his  dying  love,  and  the  blood  and 
anguish,  of  his  sufferings  for  our  salvation  ?  But  even  these 
divine  and  astonishing  instances  of  tenderness  and  mercy 
make  no  impression  on  their  souls.  While  Satan  holds 
them  in  his  chains,  they  are  sleeping  the  sleep  of  death. 
0  for  a  word  of  sovereign  and  "almighty  Grace  to  reach 
the  centre  of  their  spirits!  to  shake  all  the  powers  of  their 
nature!  'to  awaken  them  to  behold  their  eternal  interest, 
and  to  prepare  for  heavenly  felicity.  Awake,  0  sleepers,  ere 
•the  angel  of  death  seize  you,  and  the  grave  shut  its  mouth 
upon  you;  then  all  your  seasons  and  hopes  of  mercy  are  cut 
off  for  eVer,  and  you  will  awake  hopeless  immortals. 

I  shall  conclude  this  discourse  with  one  word  of  ex- 
hortation to  those  who  are  in  any  measure  wrought  up  to 
a  preparation  for  the  heavenly  blessedness.  0  happy  crea- 
ture! whatsoever  pains  you  have  taken,  whatever  conflicts 

P2 


174  A  SOUL  .PREPARED  FOR  HEAVEN. 

you  have  endured  in  the  matter  of  your  own  salvation, 
yet  let  God  and  his  grace  have  all  the  honour  of  this  work. 
It  is  to  God  you  owe  your  sacrifices  of  praise.  'He  that 
hath,  wrought' you  up  for  this  felicity  is  God.'  It  was  he 
who  awakened  you  first,  and  set  you  a  thinking  of  your 
most  important  concerns  :  it  was  he  that  led  you  first 
into  the  way  of  salvation  by  Jesus  Christ  his  Son,  and 
hath  thus  far  crowned  your  labours  and  your  prayers  with 
success  and  blessing.  Every  stumblingblock  in  your  way 
might  have  thrown  you  down  to  perdition  :  every  temp- 
tation might  have  turned  you  back  from  this  glorious 
pursuit:  every  enemy  of  your  souls  might  have  discouraged 
or  overcome  you,  if  God  and  his  grace  had  not  been  en- 
gaged on  your  side. 

It  is  he  that  hath  upheld  you  when  you  were  falling  ; 
he  hath  taken  you  by  the  hand  and  led  you  right  onward 
when  you  were  wandering,  and  he  hath  supported  you 
by  hig  divine  cordials  of- promise  when  t  you  were  faint- 
ing. It  is  Gocl  who  hath  enabled  you  to  maintain  your 
conflict  with  all  the  mighty,  obstacles  of  your  faith  and 
hope  ;  it  is  his  grace  that  hath  renewed  your  nature^  hath 
weaned  you  from  this  vain  flattering  world,  and  given  you 
a  sacred  relish  of  divine  blessedness.  It  is  he  who  hath 
formed  you  again  after  his  own.  image,  and  hath  trained 
you  up,  and  made  you  meet  for  the  inheritance  of  the 
saints  in  light/  Call  up  all  your  powers  to  praise  his  good- 
ness, and  say,  "Bless  the  Lord,  0  my  soul,  and  all  that  is 
within  me,  bless  his  holy  name  :  bless  the  Lord  for  ever, 
and  forget  not  all  his  benefits."  'It  is  God  who  hath  cal- 
led me  out  of  darkness  into  his  marvellous  light,  and 
given  me  to  see  the  things  that  belong  to  my  everlasting 
peace.  It  is  God,  who  .washed  away  my  iniquities  in  the 
blood  of  his  own  Son,  and  hath  renewed  me  unto  holiness 
by  his  blessed  Spirit.  It  is  God  who  hath  taken  me  out 
of  the  family  of  sin 'and  Satan,  and  given  me  a  place 
among  his  children  ;  who  hath  begun  to  prepare  me  for 
the  joys  and  blessings  of  heaven,  and  in  his  own  time 
he  will  fulfil  all  my  hopes,  and  complete  iruy  felicity.' 
Walk  before  him  with  all  holy  care  and  watchfulness,  and 
'take  heed  that  you  lose  not  the  things  which  you  have 
wrought/  nor  the  things  which  God  hath  wrought  in  you, 
but  that,  persevering  to  the  end,  'you  may  receive  the  full 
reward/  and  obtain  the  crown  of  everlasting  life.  Amen. 


DISCOURSE    IX 


NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.. 
RET.  xxi.  4.     Neither  shall  there  be  any  more  pain. 

THERE  have  been  some  divines  in  ancient  times  as  well 
as  in  our  present  age,- who  suppose  this  prophecy  relates 
to  some  glorious  'and  happy  event  here  on  earth,  wherein 
the  saints  and  faithful  followers  of  Christ  shall  be  deliver- 
ed from  the  bondage  and*  miseries  to  which  they  have 
been  exposed  in  all  former  ages,  and  shall  enjoy  the  bles- 
sing which  these  words  promise.  Among  these  writers 
some  have  placed  this  happy  state  before  the  resurrection 
of  the  body;  others  make  it  to  belong  to  that  '  first  resur- 
rection' which  is  spoken  of  in  Rev.  xx.  6.  But  let  this 
prophecy  have  a  particular  aspect  upon  what  earthly  pe- 
riod soever,  yet  all  must  grant  it  is  certainly  true  concern- 
ing the  'heavenly  state;'  from  whose  felicities,  taken  in 
the  literal  sense,  these  figurative  expressions  are  derived 
to  foretel  the  happiness  of  any  period  of  the  church  in 
this  world;  and  in  this  sense,  as' part  «f  our  happiness  in 
heaven,'  I  shall  understand  the  words  here,  and  propose 
them  as  the  foundation  for  my  present  discourse. 

Among  the  many  things  that  make  this  life  uncomforta- 
ble, and  render  mankind  unhappy  here  below,  this  is  one 
that  has  a  large  influence,  viz.  that  'in  this  mortal  state 
we  arc  all  liable  to  pain,'  from  which  we  shall  be  perfect- 
ly delivered  in  the  life  to  come.  The  Greek  word  which 
is  here  translated  pain,  signifies  also  toil  and  fatigue  and 
excessive  labour  of  the  body,  as  well  as  anguish  and  vexa- 
tion of  the  spirit.  But  since  in  the  two  other  places  of 
the  New  Testament  where  it  is  used,  the  word  most  prop- 
erly signifies  the  '  pain  of  the  body,'  I  presume  to  under- 
stand it  chiefly  in  this  sense  also  in  my  text. 

I  need  not  spend  time  in  explaining  'what  pain  is'  to 
persons  who  dwell  in  flesh  and  blood.  There  is  not  one 
of  you  in  this  assembly  but  is  better  acquainted  with  the 

175 


176  NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED. 

nature  of  it  by  the  sense  of  feeling,  than  it  is  possible  for 
the  wisest  philosopher  to  inform  you  by  all  his  learned  lan- 
guage. Yet  that  I  may  proceed  regularly,  I  would  just 
give  you  this  short  description  of  it.  'Pain  is  an  uneasy 
perception  of  the  soul,  'occasioned  by  some  indisposition 
of  the  body  to  which  it  is  united  ;'  whether  this  arise 
from  some  disorder  or  malady  in  the  flesh  itself,  or  from 
some  injury  received  from  without  by  wounds,  bruises,  or 
any  thing  of  the  like  kind.  Now  this  sort  of  uneasy  sen- 
sations is  not  to  be  found  or  feared  in  heaven. '  . 

In  order  to  make  our  present  meditations  on  this  part 
of  the  'blessedness  of  heaven' useful  and  joyful  to  us  while 
we  are  here  on  earth,  let  us  enquire, 

I.  What  are  the  evils  or  grand  inconveniences  that  gen- 
erally flow  from  the  pains  we  suffer  here ;  and  as'  we  go 
we  shall  survey  the  satisfactions  which  arise  by  our  free- 
dom from  them  ail  in  heaven. 

II.  What  just  and  convincing  proofs  may  be  given  that 
these  are  no  such  uneasy  sensations  to  be  felt  in  heaven,  or 
to  be  feared  after  this  life. 

III.  What  are  the  chief  reasons  or  designs  of  the  blessed 
God  in  sending  pain  on  his  creatures  in  this  world;  and  at 
the  same  time  I  shall  shew  that  pain  is  banished  from  the 
heavenly  state,  because  God  has  no  such  designs  remaining 
to  be  accomplished  in  that  world. 

IV.  What  lessons  we  may  learn  from  the  painful  disci- 
pline which  we  feel  while  we  are  here,  in  order  to  shew 
there  is  no  need  of  such  discipline   to  teach  us  those  les- 
sons in  heaven.     Let  us  address  ourselves  to1  make  these 
four  enquiries  in  their  order. 

§  I.  First.  'What  are  the  evils  which  flow  from  pain, 
and  usually  attend  it  in  this  life;'  and  all  along  as  we  go 
we  shall  take  a  short  view  of  the  heavenly  state,  where 
we  shall  be  released  from  all  these  evils  and  inconvenien- 
cies. 

1.  'Pain  has  a  natural  tendency  to  make  the  mind  sor- 
rowful as  well  as  the  body  uneasy.'  Our  souls  are  so 
nearly  united  to  flesh  and  blood,  that  it  is  not  possible  for 
the  mind  to  possess  perfect  happiness  and  ease,  while  the 
body  is  exposed  to  so  many  occasions  of  pain.  It  is  gran- 
ted, that  natural  courage  and  strength  of  heart  may  prevail 
in  some  persons  to  bear  up  their  spirits  under  long  and  in- 
tense pains  of  the  flesh,  yet  they  really  take  away  so  much, 


NO  FAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.  177 

of  the  ease  and  pleasure  of  life,  while  any  of  us  lie  under 
the  acute  sensations  of  them.  Pain  will  make  us  confess 
that  we  a^'e  flesh  and  blood,  and  force  us  sometimes  to 
cry  out  and  groan.  Even  a  stoick  in  spite  of  all  the  pride 
of  his  philosophy,  will  sometimes  be  forced,  by  a  sigh  or  a 
groan  to  confess  himself  a  man.  What  are*  the  greatest 
part  of  the  groans  and  outcries  that  are  heard  all  round  this 
our  globe  of  earth  but  the  effects  of  pain,  either  felt  or 
feared  ? 

But  in  heaven,  where  there  is  no  pain,  there  shall  be  no 
sighing  or  groaning,  nor  any  more  crying,  as  my  text  ex- 
presses. There  shall  be  nothing  to  make  the  flesh  or  the 
spirit  uneasy,  and  to  break  the  eternal  thread  of  peace  and 
pleasure  that  runs  through  the  whole  duration  of  the  saints: 
not  one  painful  moment  to  interrupt  the  everlasting  felicity 
of  that  state:  When  we  have  done  with  earth  and  mortal- 
ity, we  have  done  also  with  sickness  and  anguish  of  na- 
ture, and  with  all  sorrow  and  vexation  for  ever.  •  There 
are  no  groans  in  the  heavenly  world  to  break  in  upon  the 
harmony  of  the  harps  and  the  songs  of  thr>  blessed  ,-  no 
sighs,  no  outcries,  no  anguish  there  to  disturb  thp  mn«frv 
and  the  joy  of  the  inhabitants.  And  though  the  soul  shall 
be  united  to  the  body,  new-raised  from  the  dead,  to 
dwell  for  ever  in  union,  yet  that  new-raised  body  shall 
have  neither  any  springs  of  pain  in  it,  nor  be  capable 
of  giving  anguish  or  uneasiness  to  the  indwelling  spirit 
for  ever. 

2.  Another  evil  which  attends  on  pain  is  this,  that  'it 
so  indisposes  our  nature  as  often  to  unfit  us  for  the  busi- 
nesses and  duties  of  the  present  state.'  With  how  much 
coldness  and  indifferency  do  we  go  about  our  daily  work, 
and  perform  it  too  with  many  interruptions,  when  nature 
is  burdened  with  continual  pain,  and  the  vital  springs  of 
action  are  overborne  with  perpetual  uneasiness?  What  a 
listlessness  do  we  find  to  many  of  the  duties  of  religion  at 
such  a  season,  unless  it  be  to  run  more  frequently  to  the 
throne  of  God,  and  pour  out  our  groanings  and  our  com- 
plaints there?  Groanings  and  cries  are  the  language  of 
nature,  and  the  children  of  God  address  themselves  in  this 
language  to  their  heavenly  Father.  Blessed  be  the  name 
of  our  gracious  God,  who  hears  every  secret  sigh,  who  is. 
acquainted  with  the  sense  of  every  groan,  while  we  mourn 
before  him,  and  make  our  complaints  to  him,  that  we  can- 
23 


178  NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED. 

not  worship  him,  nor  work  for  him  as  we  would  do,  be- 
cause of  the  anguish  and  maladies  of  nature. 

And  what  an  indisposition  and  backwardness  do  we 
feel  in  ourselves  to  fulfil  many  of  the  duties  towards  our 
fellow  creatures  while  we  ourselves  are  under  present 
smart  and  -anguish  ?  Pain  will  so  sensibly  affect  self  as 
to  draw  off  all  our  thoughts  thither,  "and  centre  them  there, 
that  we  cannot  so  much  employ  our  cares  and  our  active 
powers  for  the  benefit  of  our  neighbours.  It  abates  our 
concern  for  our  friends,  and  while  it  awakens  the  spirit 
within  us  into  keen  sensations,  it  takes  away  the  activity 
of  the  man  that  feels  it  from  almost  all -the  services  of 
human  life.  When  human  nature  bears  so  much  it  can 
act  but  little. 

»  But  what  a  blessed  state  will  that  be  when  we  shall 
never  feel  this  indisposition  to  duties,  either  human  or  di- 
vine, through  any  uneasiness  of  the  body  ?  When  we 
shall  never  more  be  subject  to  any  of  these  painful  im- 
pediments, but  for  ever  cast  off  all  those  clogs  and  bur- 
dens which  fetter  the  antive  powers  of  the  soul  ?  Then 
w/n  shall  HP.  joyfully  employed  in  such  unknown  and  glo- 
rious services  to  God  our  Father,  and  to  the  blessed 
.Jesus,  as  require  mu«h  ouporiui  capacities  lu.what  we  here 
possess,  and  shall  find  no  weakness,  no  wearinessj  no  pain 
throughout  all  the  years  of  our  immortality,  Rev.  vii.  15. 
None  of  the  blessed  above  are  at  rest  or  idle,  either  "day 
or  night,  But  they  serve  him  in  his  temple,"  and  never 
cease,  and  iv.  8.  No  faintnees,  no  languors  are  known 
there.  The  "inhabitants  of  that  land  shall  not  say,  I  am 
sick."  Everlasting  vigour,  cheerfulness  and  ease  shall 
render  every  blessed  soul  for  ever  zealous  and  active  in 
obedience,  as  the  angels  are  in  heaven. 

3.  'Pain  unfits  us  for  .the  enjoyments  of  life,  as  well  as 
for  the  labours  and  duties  of  it.'  It  takes  away  all  the 
pleasing  satisfactions  which  might  attend  our  circum- 
stances, and  renders  the  objects  of  them  insipid  and  un- 
relishing.  What  pleasure  can  a  rich  man  take  in  all  the 
affluence  of  earthly  blessings  around  him,  while  some  pain- 
ful distemper  holds  him  upon  the  rack,  and  distresses  him 
with  the  torture  ?  How  little  delight  can  he  find  in  meats 
or  in  drinks  which  are  prepared  for  luxury  when  sharp 
pain  calls  all  his  attention  to  the  diseased  part  ?  What  joy 
can  he  find  in  magnificent  buildings,  in  gay  and  shining 


NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.  179 

furniture,  in  elegant  gardens,  or  in  all  the  glittering  treas- 
ures of  the  Indies,  when  the  gout  torments  his  hands  and 
his  feet,  or  the  rheumatism  afflicts  his  limbs  with  intense 
anguish  ?  If  pain  attacks  any  part  of  the  body  and  rises 
to  a  high  degree,  the  luxuries  of  life  grow  tasteless,  and 
life  itself  is  embittered  to  us.  Or  when  pains  less  acute 
are  prolonged  through  weeks^  and  months,  and  perhaps 
stick  in  our  flesh  all  the  night  as  well  as  in  the  day ;  how 
vain  and  feeble  are  all  the  efforts  of  the  bright  and  gay 
things  around  us  to  "raise  the  soul  into  cheerfulness  ?  There- 
fore Solomon  calls  old  age  the  "years  wherein  there  is 
no  pleasure,"  Eccles.  xii.  1.  Because  so  many  aches 
and  ails  in  that  season  pursue  us  in  a  continual  succes- 
sion ;  so  many  infirmities  and  painful  hours  attend  us 
usually  in  that  stage  of  life,  even  in  the  best  situation 
that  mortality  can  boast  of,  as  cuts  off  and  destroys  all  our 
pleasures. 

But  0  what  a  wondrous,  what  a  joyful  change  shall  that 
be,  when  the  soul  is  commanded  to  forsake  this  flesh'  and 
blood,  when  it  rises  as  on  the  wings  of  angels  to  the  hea- 
venly .world,  and  leaves  every  pain  behind  it,  together 
with  the  body  in  the  arms  of  death?  And  what  a  more 
illustrious  and  delightful  change  shall  we  meet  in  the  great 
rising  day,  when  our  bodies  shall  start  up  out  of  the  dust 
with  vigorous  immo'rtality,  and  without  any  spring  or  seat 
of  pain?  All  the  unknown  enjoyments  with  which  hea- 
ven is  furnished,  shall  be  taken  in  by  the  enlarged  powers 
of  the  soul  with  intense  pleasure,  and  not  a  moment's  pain 
shall  ever  interrupt  them. 

4.  Another  inconvenience  and  evil  which  belongs  to 
pain  is,  that  'it  makes  time  and  life  itself  appear  tedious 
and  tiresome,  and  adds  a  new  burden  to  all  oth^r  griev- 
ances.'     Many  evidences   of    this    truth   are   scattered 
throughout  all  nature,  and  on  all  sides  of  this  globe.    There 
is  not  one  age  of  mankind  but  can  furnish  us  with  millions 
of  instances.     In  what  melancholy  language  does  Job  dis- 
cover his  sensations  of  the  tiresome  nature  of  pain ?     "I 
am  made  to  possess  months  of  vanity,  and  wearisome 
nights  are  appointed  to  me.     When  I  lie  down  I  say, 
when  shall  I  rise  and  the  night  be  gone?     And  I  am  full 
of  tossing  to  and  fro  unto  the  dawning  of  the  day,"  Job 
yii.  3,  4.     When  pain  takes  hold  of  our  flesh,  it  seems  to 
stretch  the  measures  of  time  to  a  tedious  length.     We  cry 


180  NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED. 

out  as  Moses  expresses  it,  Deut  xxviii.  67,  "  Ii>  the  morn- 
ing we  say,  would  to  God  it  were  evening  ;  and  at  the 
return  of  the  evening  we  say  again,  would  to  God  it  were 
morning." 

Long  are  those  hours  indeed,  whether  of  day-light  or 
darkness,  wherein  there  is  no  relief  or  intermission  of 
acute  pain.  How  tiresome  a  thing  is  it  to  count  the  clock 
at  midnight  in  long  successions,  and  to  wait  every  hour 
for  the  distant  approach  of  morning,  while  our  eyes  are 
unable  to  close  themselves  in  slumber^  and  our  anguish 
admits  not  the  common,  refuge  of  sleep.  There  are  mul- 
titudes among  the  race  of  mortals  who  have  known  these 
truths  by  sore  experience.  Blessed  be  God  that  we  do 
not  always  feel  them. 

But  when  we  turn  our  thoughts  to  the  heavenly  world, 
where  there  is  no  pain,  there  we  shall  find  no  weary  hours, 
no  tedious  days,  though  eternity  with  all  its  unmeasurable 
lengths  of  duration  lies  before  us.  What  a  dismal  thought 
is  eternal  pain?  The  very  mention  of  it  makes  nature 
shudder  and  stand  aghast ;  but  ftfturity  with  all  its  endless 
years,  in  a  land  of  peace  and  pleasure  gives  the  soul  the 
most  delightful  prospect,  for  there  is  no  shadow  of  un- 
easiness in  that  state  to  render  our  abode  there  tiresome, 
or  to  think  the  ages  of  it  long. 

5.  Another  evil  that  belongs  to  pain  is,  that  'it  has  an 
unhappy  tendency  to  ruffle  the  passions,  and  to  render  us 
fretful  and  peevish  within  ourselves,  as  well  as  towards 
those  who  are  round  about  us.'  Even  the  kindest  and 
tenderest  hand  that  ministers  to  our  relief,  -can  hardly  se- 
cure itself  from  the  peevish  quarrels  of  a  man  in  extreme 
pain. 

Not  that  we  are  to  suppose  that  this  peevish  humour, 
this  fretfulness  of  spirit  are  thereby  made  innocent  and 
perfectly  excused.  No,  by  no  means ;  but  it  must  be  ac- 
knowledged still,  that  continuance  in  pain  is  too  ready  to 
work  up  the  spirit  into  frequent  disquietude  and  eager- 
ness. We  are  tempted  to  fret  at  every  thing,  we  quarrel 
with  every  thing,  we  grow  impatient  under  every  delay, 
angry  with  our  best  friends,  sharp  and  sudden  in  our  re- 
sentments, with  wrathful  speeches  breaking  out  of  our  lips. 

This  peevish  humour  in  a  clay  of  pain  is  so  common  a 
fault,  that  I  fear  it  is  too  much  excused  and  indulged. 
Let  me  rather  say  with  myself,  'My  God  is  now  putting 


NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.  181 

me  to  the  trial  what  sort  of  Christian  I  am,  and  how  much 
I  have  learnt  oi  self-government,  and  through  his  grace  I 
will"  subdue  my  uneasy  passions,  though  I  cannot  relieve 
my  pain.'  0  it  is  a  noble  point  of  honour  gained  in  a  sick 
chamber,  or  on  a  bed  of  anguish,  to  lie  pressed  with  ex- 
treme pain,  and  yet  maintain  a  serenity  and  calmness  of 
-soul;  to  He  all  meekness  and  gentleness  and  patience 
among  oar  friends  or  attendants,  under  the  sharp  twinges 
of  it;  to  utter  no  rude  or  angry  language,  and  to  take 
every  thing  kindly  that  they  say  or  do,  and  "become  like 
a  weaned  child."  But'  such.  A  character  is  not  found  in 
every  house. 

A  holy  soul,  through  the  severity  of  pain,  may  some- 
times in  such  an  hour  be  too  much  rufflad  by  violent  and 
sudden  fits  of  impatience.  This  proceeded  to  such  a  de- 
gree even  in  that  good,  man  Job,  under  his  various  calam- 
ities and  the  sore  boils  upon  his  flesh,  that  it  made  him 
"curse  the  day  wherein  he  was  born,"  and  cry  out  in  the 
anguish  of  his  spirit,  "my  soul  chooseth  strangling  and 
death  rather  than  life,"  Job  iii.  and  vii.  15;  and  there 
have  been  several  instances  of  those  who,  having  not  the 
fear  of  God  before  .their  eyes,  with  hasty  violence  and 
murderous  hands  have  put  an  end  to  their  own  lives, 
through  their  wild  and  sinful  impatience  of  constant  pain. 

But  these  triajs  are  for  ever  finished  when  this  life  ex- 
pires :  then  all  our  pains  are  ended  for  ever  if  we  are 
found  among  the  children  of  God.  There  is  not,  nor  can 
be  any  temptation  in  heaven,  to  fretffjlness  or  disquietude 
of  mind.  All  the  peevish  passions  are  dropped  into  the 
grave,  together  with  the  body  of  flesh  ;  and  those  evil 
humours  which  were  the  sources  of  smart  and  anguish 
here  on  earth  have  no.  place  -in  the  new-raised  body. 
Those  irregular  juices  of  animal  nature  which  tormented 
the  nerves,  and  excited  pain  in  the  flesh,  and  which  at  the 
same  time  provoked  choler  and  irritated  the  spirit,  are 
never  found  in  the  heavenly  mansions.  There  is  nothing 
but  peace  and  pleasure,  joy  and  love,  goodness  and  benevo- 
lence, ease  and  satisfaction  diffused  through  all  the  regions 
on  high.  There  are  no  inward  springs  of  uneasiness  to 
ruffle  the  mind,  none  of  those  fretful  ferments  which,  were 
wont  to  kindle  in  the  mortal  body,  and  explode  them- 
selves, with  fire  and  thunder  upon  every  supposed  offence, 
or  even  sometimes  without  provocation.  0  happy  state 

O 


182  NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED. 

and  bk-ssed  mansions  of  the  saints,  when  this  body  of  sin 
shall  be  destroyed,  and  all  the  restless  atoms  that  dis- 
quieted the  flesh  and  provoked  the  spirit  to  impatience, 
shall  be  buried  in  the  dust  of  death,  and  never,  never  rise 
again! 

6.  'Pain  carries  a  temptation  with  it,  sometimes  to  repine 
and  murmur  at  the  providence  of  God.'  Not  fellow- 
creatures  alone,  but  even  our  sovereign  Creator  comes 
within  the  reach  of  the  peevish  humours,  which  are  alarm- 
ed and  roused  by  sharp  or  continual  pain.  Jonah  the  pro- 
phet, when  he  felt  the  sultry  heat  of  the  sun  smite  fiercely 
upon  him,  and  that  the  gourd  which  gave  him  a  friendly 
shadow  was  withered  away,  told  God  himself  in  a  passion, 
that  "he  did  well 'to  be  angry,  even  unto  death,"  Jonah 
iv.  9.  And  even  the  man  of-Uz,  the  pattern  of  patience,' 
was  sometimes  transported  with  the  smart  and  maladies 
that  were  upon  him,  so  that  he  complained  against  God 
as  well  as  complained  to  him,  and  used  some  very  unbe- 
coming expressions  towards  his  Maker,  When  we  are 
under  the  smartiffg  rebukes  of  Providence,  we  are  ready 
to  compare  ourselves  .with  others  who  are  in  peace,  and 
then  the  envious  and  the  murmuring  humour  breaks  out 
into  rebellious  language,  "Why  am  I  thus  afflicted  more 
than  others  ?  Why  hast  thou  set  me  as  a  mark  for  thine 
arrows  ?  WThy  dost  thou  not  let  loose  thy  hand  and  cu., 
me  off  from  the  earth  ?" 

But  in  heaven  there  is  a  glorious  reverse  of  all  such 
unhappy  scenes.  There  is  no  pain  nor  any  temptation  tb 
murmur  at  the  dealings  of  the  Almighty.  There  is  nothing 
that  can  incline  us  to  think  hardly  of  God  :  the  days  of 
chastisement  are  for  ever  ended,  and  painful  discipline' 
shall  be  used  no  more.  We  shall  live  for  "ever  in  the  em- 
braces of  the  love  of  God,  and  he  shall  be  the  object  of 
our  everlasting  praise.  Perfect  felicity  without  the.  inte*r- 
ruption  of  one  uneasy  thought,  for  ever  forbids  the  in- 
habitants of  that  world  to  repine  at  their  situation  under 
the  eternal  smiles  of  that  blessed  Being  that  made  them. 

7.  To  add  no  more,  'pain  and  anguish  of  the  flesh  have 
sometimes  prevailed  so  far  as  to  distract  the  mind  as  well 
as  destroy  the  body.'  It  has  overpowered  all  the  reasoning 
faculties  of  man,  it  has  destroyed  natural  life,  and  brought 
it  down  to  the  grave.  The  senses  have  been  confounded, 
and  the  understanding  overwhelmed  with  severe  and 


NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.  183 

racking  pain,  especially  where  there  hath  been  an  im- 
patient temper  to  contest  with  them.  Extreme  smart  of 
the  flesh  distresses  feeble  nature,  and  turns  the  whole 
frame  of  it  upside  down  in  wild  confusion  :  it  has  actually 
worn  out  this  animal  frame,  and  stopped  all  the  springs  of 
vital  motion.  The  gout  and  the  stone  have  brought 
death  upon  the  patient  in  this  manner  ;  and  a  dreadful 
mariner  of.  dying  it  .is,  to  have  breath  and  life  and  na- 
ture quite  oppressed  and  destroyed  with  intense  and  pain- 
ful sensations. 

But  when  we  surveythe  mansions  of  the  heavenly  world, 
we  shall  find  none  of  these  evils  there.  No  danger  of  any 
such  events  as  these ;  for  there  is  no  pain,  no  sorrow,  no 
crying,  no  death  nor  destruction  there.  The  mind  shall 
be  for  ever  clear  and  serene  in  the  ease  and  happiness  of 
the  separate  state:  and  when  the  body  shall  be  raised  again, 
that  glorified  body,  as  was  intimated  a  little  before,  shall 
have  none  of  the  seeds  of  distemper  in  it,  no  ferments 
that  can  rack  the  nerves,  or  create  anguish  ;  no  fever,  or 
gout,  or  stone,  was  ever  known  in  that  country,  no  head- 
ache or  heart-ache  have  ascended  thither. 

That  body  also  shall  be  capable  of  no  outward  wounds 
nor  bruises,  for  it  is  raised  only  for  happiness,  and  leaves 
all  the  causes  of  pain  behind  it.  It  is  a  body  made  for 
immortality  and  pleasure ;  there  the  sickly  Christian  is 
delivered  from  all  the  maladies  of  the  flesh,  and  the 
twinges  of  acute  pain  which  made  him  groan  here  on  earth 
night  and  day.  There  the  martyrs  of  the  religion  of  Jesus, 
and  -all  the  holy  confessors  are  free  from  their  cruel  tor- 
mentors, those  surly  executioners  of  heathen  fury,  or  anti- 
christian  wrath  :  They  are  for  ever  released  from  racks, 
and  wheels,  and  Ares,  and  every  engine  of  torture  and 
smart.  Immortal  ease  and  unfading  health  and  cheerfulness 
run  through  their  eternal  state,  and  all  the  powers  of  the 
man  are  composed  for  the  most  regular  exercises  of  devotion 
and  divine  joy. 

Thus  I  have  endeavoured  briefly  to  set  the  different 
states  of  heaven  and  earth  before  you  under  this  distin- 
guishing character,  that  'all  the  tempting,  the  distressing 
and  mischievous  attendants  and  consequences  of  pain'  to 
which  we  are  exposed  in  our  mortal  life,  are  for  ever 
banished  from  the  heavenly  world. 

§  II.  The  ' second  general  enquiry'  was  this,  'What 


184  NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED. 

just  and  convincing  arguments  or  proofs  can  be  given,  that 
there  are  no  pains  or  uneasy  sensations  to  'be  felt  by  the 
saints  in  a  future  state,  nor  to  be  feared'after  this  life?' 

My  answers  to  this  question  shall  be  very  few  ;  because 
I  think  the  thing  must  be  sufficiently  evident  to  those  who 
believe  the  New  Testament,  find  have  liberty  to  read  it. 

First  argument.  ^God  has  assured  us  so  in  his  word, 
that  there  is  no  pain  for  holy  souls  to  endure  in  the  world 
to  come :'  My  text  may  be  esteemed  a  sufficient  proof  of 
it;  for  whatsoever  particular  event  or  period  of  the  church 
on  earth  this  prophecy  may  refer  to,  yet  the'  description 
is  borrowed  from  the  blessedness  of  heaven  ;  and  if  there 
shall  be  any  such  state  on  earth,  much  more  will  it  be  So 
in  the  heavenly  worldf  whereof  that  period  on  eartn  is 
but  a  shadow  and  emblem.  We  are  expressly  told,  Rev. 
xiv.  8,  in  order  to  encourage  the  persecuted  saints  and 
martyrs,  "Blessed  are  the  dead  who  die  in  the  Lord  from 
henceforth,  for  they  rest  from  their  labours,  (or  pains)  and 
their  works  follow  them  ;"  i.  e.  in  a  way  of  gracious 
recompence. 

It  is  granted  indeed  by  the  Papists  themselves,  that  in 
heaven  there  is  no  pain  ;  yet  they  suppose  there  are  many 
and  grievous  pains  for  the  soul  to  undergo  in  a  place  called 
purgatory,  after  the  death  of  the  body,  before  it  arrives 
at  heaven. 

But  give  me  leave  to  ask,  does  not  St.  Paul  express 
himself  with  confidence  concerning  himself  and  his  fellow 
Christians — "that  they  shall  be  present  with  the  Lord 
when  they  are  absent  from  the  body  ?"  2  Cor.  v.  8.  Surely 
the  state  wherein  Christ  our  Lord  dwells  after  all  his  suf- 
ferings and  agonies,  is  a  state  of  everlasting  ease  without 
suffering  ;  and  shall  not  his  followers  dwell  with  him  ? 
Do  we  not  read  in  the  parable  of  our  Saviour,  Luke  xvi. 
22,  that  Lazarus  was  no  sooner  dead,  than  "his  soul  was 
carried  by  angels  into  the  bosom  of  Abraham,"  or  para- 
dise ?  Every  holy  soul  wherein  the  work  of  grace  is  begun, 
and  sin  hath  received  its  mortal  wound,  is  perfectly  sancti- 
fied when  it  is  released  from  this  body ;  and  it  puts  off  the 
body  of  sin  and  the  body  of  flesh  together,  for  "nothing 
that  defileth  must  enter  into"  paradise  or  the  heavenly 
state. 

The  word  of  God  has  appointed  but  two  states,  viz. 
heaven  and  hell,  for  the  reception  of  all  mankind  when 


NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.  185 

they  depart  from  this  world  :  and  how  vain  a  thing  must 
it  be  for  men  to  invent  a  third  state,  and  make  a  purgatory 
of  it  ?  This  is  a  building  erected  by  the  church  of  Rome 
between  heaven  and  hell,  and  prepared  by  their  wild 
imagination  for  souls  of  imperfect  virtue,  to  be  tormented 
there  with  pains  equal  to  those  of  hell,  but  of  shorter 
duration.  This  state  of  fiery  purgation,  and  extreme 
anguish,  is  devised  by  that  mother  of  lies,  partly  under 
a  pretence  of  completing  the  penances  and  satisfactions 
for  the  sins  of  men  committed  in  this  life,  and  partly  also 
to  purify  and  refine  their  souls  from  all  the  remaining 
dregs  of  sin,  and  to  fill  up  their  virtues  to  perfection,  that 
they  may  be  fit  for  the  immediate  presence  of  God.  But 
does  not  the  Scripture  sufficiently  inform  us,  that  the  atone- 
ment or  satisfaction  of  Christ  for  sin  is  full  and  complete 
in  itself,  and  needs  none  of  our  additions  in  this  world  6r 
another  ?  Does  not  the  Apostle  John  tell  us,  1st  epist.  chap, 
i.  ver.  7,  "The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  cleanseth  us  from 
all  sin?"  Nor  shall  the  saints  after  this  life  sin  any  more, 
to  require  any  new  atonement ;  nor  do  they  carry  the 
soeds  of  sin  to  heaven  with  them,  but  drop  them  together 
with  the  flesh,  and  all  the  sources  of  pain  together.  Now 
since  neither  Christ  nor  his  apostles  give  us  any  intimation 
of  such  a  place  as  purgatory  for  the  refinement  or  puri- 
fication of  souls  after  this  life,  we  have  no  ground  to 
hearken  to  such  a  fable. 

The  second  argument  is  this  ;  '  God  has  not  provided 
any  medium  to  convey  pain  to  holy  souls  after  they  have 
dropped  this  body  of  flesh.'  They  are  pardoned,  they 
are  sanctified,  they  are  accepted  of  God  for  ever  ;  and 
since  they  are  in  no  danger  of  sinning  ifresh  by  the  influ- 
ences of  corrupt  flesh  and  blood,  therefore  they  are  in  no 
fear  of  suffering  any  thing  thereby.  And  if,  as  some  di- 
vines have  supposed,  there  should  be  any  pure  etherial 
bodies  or  vehicles  provided  for  holy  separate  spirits,  when 
departed  from  this  grosser  tabernacle  of  flesh  and  blood, 
yet  it  cannot  be  supposed  that  the  God  of  all  grace  would 
mix  up  any  seeds  of  pain  with  that  etherial  matter,  which 
is  to  be  the  occasional  habitation  of  sanctified  spirits  in 
that  state,  nor  that  he  would  make  any  avenues  or  doors 
of  entrance  for  pain  into  these  refined  vehicles,  when  the 
state  of  their  sinning  and  their  trial  is  for  ever  finished. 

Nor  will  the  body  at  the  final  resurrection  of  the  saints 
24  Q2 


186  XQ  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED. 

be  made  for  a  medium  of  any  painful  sensations.  All  the 
pains  of  nature  are  ended,  when  the  first  union  between 
flesh  and  spirit  is  dissolved.  When  this  body  lies  down 
to  sleep  in  the  dust,  it  shall  never  awake  again  with  any 
of  the  principles  of  sin  or  pain  in  it.  Though  "it  be  sown 
in  weakness,  it  is  raised  in  power  ;  'though  it  be  sown 
in  dishonour,  it  is  raised  in  glory  ;"  and  we  shall  be  made 
like  the  Son  of  God  without  sorrowand  withoutsin  forever. 
3d.  Argument.  'There  are  no  moral  causes  or  reasons 
why  there  should  be  any  thing  of  pain  provided  for  the 
heavenly  state.'  And  if  there  be  no  moral  reasons  for  it, 
surely  God  will  not  provide  pains  for  his  creatures  without 
reason!  But  this  thought  leads  me  to  the  next  general 
head  of  my  discourse. 

§  III.  The  third  general  enquiry  which  I  proposed  to 
make  was  this,  'What  may  be  the  chief  moral  reasons, 
motives,  or  designs  of  the  blessed  God  in  sending  pain  on 
his  creatures  here  below  ;  and  at  the  same  time-  I  shall 
shew  that  these  designs  and  purposes  of  God  arc  finished, 
and  they  have  no  place  in  heaven.' 

1st.  Then,  'pain  is  sometimes  sent  into  our  natures  to 
awaken  slothful  and  drowsy  Christians  out  of  their  spir- 
itual slumbers,  or  to  rouse  stupid  sinners  from  a  state  of 
spiritual  death.'  Intense  and  sharp  pain  of  the  flesh  has 
oftentimes  been  the  appointed  and  effectual  means  of  pro- 
vidence to  attain  these  desirable  ends. 

Pain  is  like  a  rod  in  the  hand  of  God,  wherewith  he 
smites  sinners  that  are  dead  in  their  trespasses,  and  his 
Spirit  joins  with  it  to  awaken  them  into  spiritual  life. 
This  rod  is  sometimes  so  smarting  and  severe,  that  it 
will  make  a  senseless  and  ungodly  wretch  look  upwards 
to  the  hand  that  smites  it,  arid  take  notice  of  the  rebuke 
of  heaven,  though  all  the  thundering  and  lightning  of  the 
word,  and  all  the  terrors  of  hell  denounced  there,  could 
not  awaken  him. 

Acute  pain  is  also  a  coirimon  instrument  in  our  heaven- 
ly Father's  hand,  to  recover  backsliding  saints  from  their 
secure  and  drowsy  frames  of  spirit.  David  often  found 
it  so,  and  speaks  it  plainly  in  the  38th  and  39th  Psalms  ; 
and  in  Psalm  cxix.  67,  he  confesses,  "  before  I  was  afflicted 
I  went  astray  ;"  but  when  he  had  felt  the  scourge,  he 
learnt  to  obey,  and  to  '  keep  the  word  of  his  God.' 

But  there  is  'no  need  of  this  discipline  in  heaven:'  no 


NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.  187 

need  of  this  smarting  scourge  to  make  dead  sinners  feel 
their  Maker's  hand,  in  order  to  rouse  them  into  life,  for 
there  are  no  such  inhabitants  in  that  world.  Nor  is  there 
any  need  of  such  divine  and  paternal  discipline  of  God  in 
those  holy  mansions,  where  there  is  no  drowsy  Christian 
to  be  awakened,  no  wandering  spirit  that  wants  to  be  re- 
duced to  duty.  And  where  the  designs  of  such  smart- 
ing strokes  have  no  place,  pain  itself  must  be  for  ever 
banished;  for  '  God  does  not  willingly  afflict,  nor  take  de- 
light in  grieving  the  children' of  men,'  without  substantial 
reasons  for  it. 

2.  Another  use  of  bodily  pain  and  anguish  in  this 
world  is,  '  to  punish  men  for  their  faults  and  follies,  to 
make  them  know  what  an  evil  and  bitter  thing  it  is  to  sin 
against  God,  and  thereby  to  guard  them  against  new  temp- 
tations.' Jer.  ii.  19,  "Thy  own  wickedness  shall  correct 
thee,  and  thy  backsliding  shall  reprove  thee  ;"  i.  e.  by 
means  of  the  smarting  chastisements  they  bring  upon  men. 
When  God  makes  the  sinner  taste  of  the  fruit  of  his  own 
ways,  he  makes  others  also  observe  how  hateful  a  thing  ev- 
ery sin  is  in  the  sight  of  God,  which  he  thinks  fit  so  ter- 
ribly to  punish. 

This  is  one  general  reason  why  special  diseases,  mala- 
dies, and  plagues  are  spread  over  a  whole  nation,  viz.  to 
punish  the  sins  of  the  inhabitants,  when  they  have  provo- 
ked God  by  public  and  spreadin-g  iniquities.  War  and 
famine  with  all  their  terrible  train  of  anguish  and  agony, 
and  the  dying  pains  which  they  diffuse  over  a  kingdom, 
are  rods  of  punishment  in  the  hand  of  God,  the  Governor 
of  the  world,  to  declare  from  heaven  and  earth  his  indigna- 
tion against  an  ungodly  and  an  unrighteous^ge. 

This  indeed  is  one  design  of  the  pains  and  torments  of 
hell,  where  God  inflicts  pain  without  intermission;  and 
this  is  sometimes  the  purpose  of  God  in  his  painful  provi- 
dences here  on  earth.  Shall  I  rise  yet  higher  and  say,  that 
this  was  one  great  design  in  the  eye  of  God,  "  when  it 
pleased  the  Father  to  bruise"  his  best  beloved  Son,  and  put 
him  under  the  impressions  of  extreme  pain,  viz.  to  discov- 
er to  the  world  the  abominable  evil  that  was  in  sin  ?  While 
Jesus  stood  in  the  stead  of  sinners,  then  "  his  soul  was  ex- 
ceeding sorrowful  even  to  death,  and  he  sweat  drops  of 
blood"  under  the  pressure  of  his  agonies,  to  let  the  world 
see  what  the  sin  of  man  had  deserved.  And  sometimes 


188  NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED. 

God  smites  his  own  children  in  thi?  world  with  smarting 
strokes  of  correction,  when  they  have  indulged  any  ini- 
quity, to  shew  the  world  that 'God  hates  sin  in  his  own 
people  wheresoever  he  finds  it,  and  to  bring  his  children 
back  again  to  the  paths  of  righteousness. 

But  'in  the  heavenly  state,  there  are  no  faults  to- punish, 
no  follies  to  chastise.'  Jesus,  our  Surety  in  the  days  of 
his  flesh,  has  suffered  those  sorrows  which  made  -atone- 
ment for  sin,  and  that  anguish  of  his  holy  soul,  and  the 
blood  of  his  cross,  have  satisfied  the  demands  of  God ;  so 
that  with  honour  he  can  pardon  ten  thousand  penitent 
criminals,  and  provide  an  inheritance  of  ease  and  blessed- 
ness for  them  for  ever.  When  once  we  are  dismissed 
from  this  body,  the  spirit  is  thoroughly  sanctified,  and 
there  is  no  fire  of  purgatory  needful  to  burn  out  the  re- 
mains of  sin.  Those  foolish  invented  flames  are  but  false 
fire,  kindled  by  the  priests  of  Rome  to  fright  the  souls  of 
the  dying,  and  to  squeeze  money  out  of  them  to  purchase 
so  many  vain  and  idle  masses  to  relieve  the  souls  of  the 
dead.  Upon  our  actual  release  from  this  flesh  and  blood, 
neither  the  guilt  nor  the  power  of  sin  shall  attend  the 
saintsin  their  flight  to  heaven:  all  the  spirits  that  arrive  there 
are  made  perfect  in  holiness  without  new  seourges,  and  com- 
mence a  state  of  felicity  that  shall  never  be  interrupted. 

8.  God  has  appointed  pain  in  this  world,  'to  exercise 
and  try  the  virtues  and  the  graces  of  his  people.'  As  gold 
is  thrown  into  the  fire  to  prove  and  try  how  pure  it  is 
from  any  coarse  alloy,  so  the  children  of  God  are  some- 
times left  for  a  season  in  the  furnace  of  sufferings,  partly 
to  refine  them  from  their  dross,  and  partly  to  discover 
their  purity  and  their  substantial  weight  and  worth. 

Sometimes  'God  lays  smarting  pain  with  his  own  hand' 
on  the  flesh  of  his  people,  on  purpose  to  try  their  graces. 
When  we  endure  the  pain  without  murmuring  at  Provi- 
dence, then  it  is  we  come  off  conquerors.  Christian  sub- 
mission and  silence  under  the  hand  of  God,  is  one  way  to 
victory.  "I  was  dumb,"  says  David,  "and  opened  not 
my  mouth,  because  thou  didst  it,"  Psal.  xxxix.  Our  love 
to  God,  our  resignation  to  his  will,  our  holy  fortitude  and 
our  patience  find  a  proper  trial  in 'such  smarting  seasons. 
Perhaps  when  some  severe  pain  first  seizes  and  surprise* 
us,  we  find  ourselves  '  like  a  wild  bull  in  a  net,'  and  all 
the  powers  of  nature  are  thrown  into  tumult  and  disquiet?- 


KO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.  189 

ude,  so  that  we  have  no  possession  of  our  own  spirits ;  but 
when  the  hand  of  God  has  continued  us  awhile  under  this 
divine  discipline,  we. learn  to  how  down  to  his  sovereign- 
ty, we  lie  at  his  footstool  calm  and  composed :  he  brings 
our  haughty  and  reluctant  spirits  down  to  his  foot,  and 
makes  us  lie  humble  in  the  dust,  and  we  wait  with  pa- 
tience the  hour  of  his  release.  Rom.  v.  3,  4,  'Tribulation 
worketh  patience,  and  patience'  under  tribulation  'gives 
us  experience'  of  the  dealings  of  God  with  his  people, 
and  makes  our  way  to  a  confirmed  hope  in  his  love.  The 
evidence  of  our  various  graces  grows  brighter  and  stronger 
under  a  smarting  rod,  till  we  are  settled  in  a  joyful  confi- 
dence, and  the  soul  rests  in  God  himself. 

Sometimes  he  has  'permitted  evil  angels  to  put  the 
flesh  to  paia,'  for  the  trial  of  his  children  ;  so  "Job  was 
smitten  with  sore  boils  from  head  to  foot"  by  the  malice 
of  Satan,  at  the  permission  of  God  ;  but  "  he  knows  the 
way  that  I  take,"  says  this  holy  man,  "and  when  he  has 
tried  me  I  shall  come  forth  as  gold  ;  for  my  foot  hath  held 
his  steps"  through  all  these  trials,  "neither  have  I  gone 
back  from  the  commandments  of  his  lips,"  Job.  xxii.  16, 12. 

At  other  times  'he  suffers  wicked  men  to  spend  their 
own  malice,  and  to  inflict  dreadful  pains  on  his  own  chil- 
dren,' Look  back  to  the  years  of  ancient  persecution  in 
the  land  of  Israel,  under  Jewish  or  heathen  tyrants;  re- 
view the  annals  of  Great  Britain ;  look  over  the  seas  into 
•  popish  kingdoms  ;  take  a  view  of  the  cursed  courts  of  in- 
quisition in  Spain,  Portugal,  and  Italy ;  behold  the  wea- 
pons, the  scourges,  the  racks,  the  machines  of  torture  and 
engines  of  cruelty,  devised  by  the  barbarous  and  inhuman 
wit  of  men,  to  constrain  the  saints  to  renounce  their  faith, 
and  dishonor  their  Saviour.  See  the  slow  fires  where  the 
martyrs  have  been  roasted  to  death  with  lingering  tor- 
ment. These  are  seasons  of  terrible  trial  indeed,  whereby 
the  malice  of  Satan  and  Antichrist  would  force  the  ser- 
vants of  God,  and  the  followers  of  the  Lamb,  into  sinful 
compliances  with  their  idolatry,  or  a  desertion  of  their 
post  of  duty.  But  the  spirit  of  God  has  supported  his 
children  to  bear  a  glorious  testimony  to  pure  and  undefined 
religion;  and  they  have  seemed  to  mock  the  rage  of  their 
tormentors,  to  defy  all  the  stings  of  pain,  and  triumphed 
over  their  vain  attempts  to  compel  them  to  sin  against 
their  God. 


190  NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED. 

One  would  sometimes  be  ready  to  wonder,  that  a  God 
of  infinite  mercy  and  compassion  should  suffer  his  own 
dear  children  to  be  tried  in  so  terrible  a  manner  as  this; 
but  unsearchable  wisdom  is  with  him,  and  he  does  not 
give  an  account  to  men  of  all  the  reasons  and  the  rules  of 
his  conduct.  This  has  been  his  method  of  providence 
with  his  saints  at  especial  seasons,  under  the  Jewish  and 
the  Christian  dispensations,  and  perhaps  under  all  the  dis- 
pensations of  God  to  men,  from  the  days  of  Cain  and  Abel 
to  the  present  hour.  Our  blessed  Lord  has  given  us  many 
warnings  of  it  in  his  word  by  his  own  mouth,  and  by  all 
his  three  Apostles,  Paul,  Peter  and  John.  "They  that 
will  live  godly  in  Christ  Jesus  shall  suffer  persecution. 
Think  it  not  strange  therefore  concerning  the  fiery  trial. 
The  devil,  by  his  wicked  agents,  shall  cast  .some  of  you 
into  prison,  that  ye  may  be  tried  ;  and  ye  shall  have  tri- 
bulation ten  days,  but  fear  none  of  the  things  which  thou 
shalt  suffer.  Be  thou  faithful  unto  death,  and  I  will  give 
thee  a  crown  of  life." 

But  blessed  be  God  that  this  world  is  the  only  stage  of 
such  trials.  As  soon  as  the  state  of -probation  is  finished, 
the  state  of  recompence  begins.  Such  hard  and  painful 
exercises  to  try  the  virtues  of  the  saintis,  have  no  place  in 
that  world,  which  was  not  made  for  a  stage  of  trial  and 
conflict,  but  a  palace  of  glorious  reward.  '  Heaven  is  a 
place  where  crowns  and  prizes  are  distributed'  to  all  those 
blessed  ones  'who  have  endured  temptation,'  and  who 
have  been  found  faithful  to  the  death.  These  sharp  and 
dreadful  combats  with  pain,  have  no  place  among  con- 
querors, who  have  finished  their  warfare,  and  have  begun 
their  triumph. 

4.  'Pain  is  sent -us  by  the  hand  of  Providence  to  teach 
us  many  a  lesson  both  of  truth  and  duty,  which  perhaps 
we  should  never  have  learnt  so  well  without  it.'  This 
sharp  sensation  awakens  our  best  powers  to  attend  to  those 
truths  and  duties  which  we  took  less  notice  of  before.  In 
the  time  of  perfect  ease  we  are  ready  to  let  them  lie  neg- 
lected or  forgotten,  till  God  our  great  Master  takes  his  rod 
in  hand  for  our  instruction. 

§  IV.  And  this  leads  me  to  the  'fourth  general  head' 
of  my  discourse,  and  that  is  to  'enquire  what  are  those 
spiritual  lessons  which  may  be  leamt  on  earth  from  the 
pains  we  have  suffered,  or  may  suffer  in  the  flesh.'  I  shall 


NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE    BLESSED.  191 

divide  them  into  two  sorts,  viz.  'Lessons  of  instruction' 
in  useful  truth,  and  'lessons  of  duty,'  or  practical  Christi- 
anity ;  and  there  are  many  of  each  kind  with  which  the 
disciples  of 'Christ  in  this  world'  may  be  better  acquaint- 
ed, by  the  actual  sensations  of  pain,  than  any  other  way: 
'in  this  world'  I  say,  and  'in  this  only;'  for  in  heaven 
most  of  these  'lessons  of  doctrine  and  practice'  are  utterly 
needless  to  be  taught,  either  because  they  have  been  so 
perfectly  well  known  to  all  its  inhabitants  before,  and 
their  present  situation  makes  it  impossible  to  forget  them  ; 
or  they  shall  be  let  into  the  fuller  knowledge  of  them  in 
heaven  in  a  far  superior  way  of  instruction,  and  without 
any  such  uneasy  discipline.  And  this  I  shall  evidently 
make  appear,  when  I  have  first  enumerated  all  these  'gen- 
eral lessons'  both  'of  truth  and  duty,'  and  shewn  how 
wisely  the  great  God  has  appointed  them  to  be  taught 
here  on  earth,  under  the  scourge  and  the  wholesome  dis- 
cipline of  pain  in  the  flesh. 

I.  '  The  lessons  of  instruction  here  on  earth,  or  the  use- 
ful truths,'  are  such  as  these: 

1.  Pain  teaches  us  feelingly,  'what  feeble  creatures  we 
are,  and  how  entirely  dependent  on  Godr  our  Maker  for 
every  hour  and  moment  of  ease.'     We  are  naturally  wild 
and  wanton  creatures,  and  especially  in  the  season  of  youth, 
our  gayer  powers  are  gadding  abroad  at  the  call  of  temp- 
tation ;  but  when  God  sends  his  arrows  into  our  flesh,  he 
arrests  us  on  a  sudden,  teaches  us  that-  we  are  but  men, 
poor  feeble  dying  creatures,    soon  crushed,  and   sinking 
under  his  hand.     We  are  ready  to  exult  in  the  vigour  of 
youth,  when  animal  nature,  in  its  prime  of  strength  and 
glory,  raises  .ow  pride,  and  supports  us  in  a  sort  of  self- 
sufficiency  ;  we  CH-C  so  vain  and  foolish,  as  to  imagine  no- 
thing can  hurt  us.     But  'when  the  pain  of  a  little  nerve 
seizes  us,  and  we  fet-1  the  acute  twinges  of  it,  we  are 
made  to  confess  that '  our  flesh  is  not  iron,  nor  our  bones 
brass  ;'  that  we  are  by  no  xjeans  the  lords  of  ourselves,  or 
sovereigns  over  our  own  natyre.     We  cannot  remove  the 
least  degree  of  pain,  till  the  Lord  who  sent  it  takes  off  his 
hand,  and  commands  the  smart  to  cease.     If  the  ( torture 
fix  itself  but  in  a  finger  or  a  toe,  or  in  the  little  nerve  of  a 
tooth,  what  intense  agonies  may  it  create  in  us,  ani  that 
beyond  all  the  relief  of  medicines,  till  the  moment  wherein 
Goti  shall 'give  us  ease.     This  lesson  of  the  frailty  of  hu- 


192  NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED. 

man  nature  must  be  some  time  written  upon  our  hearts  in 
deep  and  smarting  characters,  by  intense  pain,  before  we 
have  learnt  it  well ;  and  this  gives  us,  for  some  time  to 
come,  a  happy  guard  againtfr  our  pride  and  vanity.  When 
David  felt  the  stroke  of  the  hand  of  God  upon  him,  which 
corrected  him  with  sharp  rebukes  for  his  iniquity,  he 
makes  an  humble  address  to  God,  and  acknowledges  that 
his  "beauty,  and* all  the  boasted  excellencies  of  flesh  and 
blood,  consume  away  like  a  moth ;  surely  every*  man  is 
vanity!"  Psal.  xxxix.  10,  11. 

2.  The  next  useful  truth  in  which,  pain  instructs  us,  is 
'the  great  evil  that  is  contained  in  the  nature  of  sin,  be- 
cause it  is  the  occasion  of  such  intense  pain  and  misery  to 
human  nature.'  I  grant,  I  have  hinted  this  before,  but  I 
would  have  it  more  powerfully  impressed  upon  our  spirits, 
and  therefore  I  introduce  it  here  again  in  this  part  ol"  my 
discourse  as  a  spiritual  lesson,  which  we  learn  under  the 
discipline  of  our  heavenly  Father. 

It  is  true  indeed  that  innocent  nature  was  made  capable 
of  pain  in  the  first  Adam,  and  the  innocent  nature  of  the 
man  Jesus  Christ  suffered  acute  pain,  when  he  came  in  the 
likeness  of  sinful  flesh.  But  if  Adam  had  continued  in  his 
state  of  innocence,  it  is  a  great  question  with  me,  whether 
he  or  his  children  would  have  actually  tasted  or  felt  what 
acute  pain  is  ;  I  mean  such  pain  as  we  now  suffer,  such  as 
makes  us  so  far  unhappy,  and  such  as  we  cannot  immedi- 
ately relieve. 

It  may  be  granted,  that  natural  hunger,  and  thirst,  and 
weariness  after  labour,  would  have  carried  in  them  some 
degrees  of  pain  or  uneasiness,  even  in  the  state  of  innocence; 
but  these  are  necessary  to  awaken  nature  to  seek  food  and 
rest,  and  to  put  the  man  in  mind  to  supply  his- natural 
wants  ;  and  man  might  have  immediately  relieved  them 
himself,  for  the  supplies  of  ease  were  at  Jiand  ;  and  these 
sort  of  uneasinesses  were  abundantly  compensated  by  the 
pleasure  of  rest  and  food,  and  perhaps  they  were  in  some 
measure  necessary  to  make  food  and  rest  pleasant. 

But  surely  if  sin  had  never  been  known  in  our  world, 
all  the  pain  that  arises  from  inward  diseases  of  nature,  or 
from  outward  violence,  had  been  a  stranger  to  the  human 
race,  in  unknown  evil  among  the  sons  of  meq,  as  it  is 
among  the  holy  angels,  the  sons  of  God.  There  had  been 
no  distempers  or  acute  pains  to  meet  young  babes  at  their 


NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.  193 

entrance  into  this  world  ;  no  maladies  to  attend  the  sons 
and  daughters  of  Adam  through  the  journey  of  life  ;  and 
they  should  have  been  translated  to  some  higher  and  hap- 
pier region,  without  death,  and  without  pain. 

It  was  the  eating  of  the  tree  of  knowledge  of  good  and 
evil,  that  acquainted  Adam  and  his  offspring  with  the  evil 
of  pain.  Or  if  pain  could  have  attacked  innocence  in  any 
form  or  degree,  it  would  have  been  but  in  a  way  of  trial, 
to  exercise  and  illustrate  his  virtues;  and  if  he  had  endured 
the  test,  and  continued  innocent,  I  am  satisfied  he  should 
nevei*  have  felt  any  pain  which  was  not  overbalanced  with 
superior  pleasure,  or  abundantly  recompensed  by  succeed- 
ing rewards  and  satisfactions. 

Some  persons  indeed,  have  supposed  it  within  the  reach 
of  the  sovereignty  of  God  to  afflict  and  torment  a  sinless 
creature.  Yet  I  think  it  is  hardly  consistent  with  his  good- 
ness, or  his  equity,  to  constrain  an  innocent  bejng,  which 
has  no  sin,  to  suffer  pain  without  his  own  consent,  and 
without  giving  that  creature  equal  or  superior  pleasure  as 
a  recompence.  Both  those  were  the  case  in  the  sufferings 
of  our  blessed  Lord  in  his  human  nature,  who  was  per- 
fectly innocent  :  it  was  with  his  own  consent  that  he 
five  himself  up  to  be  a  sacrifice,  when  "it  pleased  the 
ather  to  bruise  him  and  put  him  to  grief."  And  God 
rewarded  him  with  transcendent  honours  and  joys  after 
his  passion,  he  exalted  him  to  his  own  right  hand  and 
his  throne,  and  gave  him  authority  over  all  things. 

In  general  therefore  we  have  sufficient  reason  to  say, 
that  as  sin  brought  in  death  into  human  nature,  so  it 
was  sin  that  brought  in  pain  also  ;  and  wheresoever  there 
IB  any  pain  suffered  among  the  sons  and  daughters  of 
men,  I  am  sure  we  may  venture  to  assert  boldly,  that 
the  sufferer  may  learn  the  evil  of  sin.  Even  the  Son 
of  God  himself,  when  he  suffered  pain  in  his  body,  as 
well  as  anguish  in  his 'spirit,  has  told  us  by  his  Apostles, 
that  our  sins  were  the  causes  of  it ;  'he  bore  our  sins 
on  his  own  body  on  the  tree,  and  for  our  iniquities  he 
was  bruised  :'  so  says  Isaiah  the  prophet,  and  so  speaks 
Peter  the  Apostle. 

And  sometimes  the  Providence  of  God  is  pleased  to 

point  out  to  us  the  particular  sin  we  are  guilty  of  by  the 

special  punishment  which  he  inflicts.  In  Psal.  cvii.  17, 18, 

"Fools  are  said  to  be  afflicted/'  i.  e.  with  pain  and  sickness, 

25  R 


;  94  NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED. 

"because  of  their  transgressions"  of  riot  and  intemperance; 
"their  soul  abhors  all  manner  of  meat,  and  they  draw  near 
to  the  gates  of  death. "  Sickness  and  pain  over-balance 
all  the  pleasures  of  luxury  in  meats  and  drinks,  and  make 
the  epicure  pay  dear  for  the  elegance  of  his  palate,  and 
the  sweet  relish  of  his  morsels  or  his  cups.  The  drunkard 
in  his  debauches,  is  preparing  some  smarting  pain  for  his 
own  punishment.  And  let  us  all  be  so  wise  as  to  learn  this 
lesson  by  the  pains  we  feel,  that  sin  which  introduced  them 
into  the  world  is  an  abominable  thing  in  the  sight  of  God, 
because  it  provokes  him  to  use  such  smarting  strokes  of 
discipline  in  order  to  recover  us  from  our  folly,  and  to 
reduce  us  back  again  to  the  paths  of  righteousness. 

0  blessed  smart!  0  happy  pain,  that  helps  to  soften  the 
heart  of  a  sinner,  and  melts  it  to  receive  divine  instruction, 
which  before  was  hard  as  iron,  and  attended  to  no  divine 
counsel!  We  are  ready  to  wander  from  God,  and  forget 
him  among  the  months  and  the  years  of  ease  arid  pleasure  ; 
but  when  the  soul  is  melted  in  this  furnace  of  painful  suf- 
ferings, it  more  easily  receives  some  divine  stamp,  some 
lasting  impression  of  truth,  which  the  words  of  the  preacher 
and  the  book  of  God  had  before  inculcated  without  suc- 
cess, and  repeated  almost  in  vain.  Happy  is  the  soul  that 
learns  this  lesson  thoroughly,  and  gains  a  more  lasting 
acquaintance  with  the  evil  of  sin,  and  abhorrence  of  it, 
under  the  smarting  stroke  of  the  hand  of  God.  "Blessed 
is  the  man  whom  thou  correctest,  0  Lord,  and  teachest 
him  the  truths  that  are  written  in  thy  law,"  Psal.  xciv.  12. 

3.  Pain  in  the  flesh  teaches  us  also  «hovv  dreadfully  the 
great  God  can  punish  sin  and  sinners  when  he  pleases,  in 
this  world  or  in  the  other.'  It  is  written  in  the  song  of 
Moses,  the  man  of  God,  Psal.  xc.  11,  "According  to  thy 
fear,  so  is  thy  wrath,"  i.  e.  the  displeasure  and .  anger  of 
the  blessed  God  is  as  terrible  as  we  can  fear  it  to  be  ;  and 
he  can  inflict  on  us  such  intense  pains  and  agonies,  whose 
distressing  smart  we  may  learn  by  feeling  a  little  of  them. 
Unknown  multiplications  of  racking  pain,  lengthened  out 
beyond  years  ahd  ages,  is  part  of  the  description  of  hellish 
torments,  and  the  other  part  lies  in  the  bitter  twinges 
of  conscience  and  keen  remorse  of  soul  for  our  past  in- 
iquities, but  without  all  hope.  Behold  a  man  under  a  sharp 
fit  of  the  gout  or  stone,  which  wrings  the  groans  from  his 
heart,  and  tears  from  his  eye-lids  ;  this  is  the  hand  of  God 


NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.  195 

in  the  present  world,  where  there  are  many  mixtures  of 
divine  goodness ;  but  if  ever  we  should  be  so  wilfully  un- 
happy as  to  be  plunged  into  those  regions  where  the 
'  almighty  vengeance  of  God  reigns,  without  one  beam  of 
divine  light  or  love,  this  irust  be  dreadful  indeed.  "It 
is  a  fearful  thing  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  living  God," 
Heb.  x.  31,  to  be  banished  far  off  from  all  that  is  holy 
and  happy,  and  to  be  confined  to  that  dark  dungeon,  that 
place  of  torture,  "where  the  gnawing  worm  of  conscience 
never  dies,"'  and  "where  the  fire  of  divine  anger  is  never 
quenched." 

We  who  are  made  up  of  flesh  and  blood,  which  is  in- 
terwoven with  many  nerves  and  muscles,  and  membranes, 
may  learn  a  little  of  the  terrors  of  the  Lord,  if  we  reflect 
that  every  nerve,  muscle,  and  membrane  of  the  body  is 
capable  of  giving  us  most  sharp  and  painful  sensations. 
We  may  be  wounded  in  every  sensible  part  of  nature  ; 
smart  and  anguish  may  enter  in  at  every  pore,  and  make 
almost  every  atom  of  our  constitution  an  instrument  of 
our  anguish.  "Fearfully  and  wonderfully  are  we  formed" 
indeed,  capable  of  pain  all  over  us ;  and  if  a  God  shall  see 
fit  to  punish  sin  to  its  full  desert,  and  penetrate  every 
atom  of  our  nature  with  pain,  what  surprising  and  intoler- 
able misery  must  that  be  ?  And  if  God  should  raise  the 
wicked  out  of  their  graves  to  dwell  in  such  sort  of  bodies 
again,  on  purpose  to  shew  his  just  anger  against  sin  in 
their  punishment,  how  dreadful,  beyond  expression,  must 
their  anguish  be  through  the  long  ages  of  eternity  ?    God 
can  form  even  such  bodies  for  immortality,  and  can  sustain 
them  to  endure  everlasting  agonies. 

Let  us  think  again,  that  when  the  hand  of  our  Creator 
sends  pain  into  our  flesh,  we  cannot  avoid  it,  we  cannot 
fly  from  it,  we  carry  it  with  us  wheresoever  we  go.  His 
arrows  stick  fast  in  us,  and  we  cannot  shake  them  off ; 
oftentimes  it  appears  that  we  can  find  no  relief  from  crea- 
tures :  and  if  by  the  destruction  of  ourselves,  i.  e.  of  these 
bodies,  we  plunge  ourselves  into  the  world  of  spirits  at 
once,  we  shall  find  the  same  God  of  holiness  and  vengeance 
there,  who  can  pierce  our  souls  with  unknown  sorrows, 
equal,  if  not  superior,  to  all  that  we  felt  in  the  flesh.  "If 
I  make  my  bed  in  the  grave,  Lord,  thou  art  there,"  thy 
hand  of  justice  and  punishment  would  find  me  out 
What  a  formidable  thing  it  is  to  such  creatures  as  we  are, 


196  NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED. 

to  have  God,  our  Maker,  for  our  enemy  ?  That  God  who 
has  all  the  tribes  of  pain  and  disease,  and  the  innumerable 
host  of  maladies  at  his  command  ?  He  fills  the  air  in  which 
we  breathe  with  fevers  and  pestilences  as  often  as  he  wills. 
The  gout  and  the  stone  arrest  and  seize  us  by  his  order, 
^r.d  Stretch  us  upon  a  bed  of  pain.  Rheumatisms  and 
cholics  come  and  go  wheresoever  he  sends  them,  and 
execute  his  anger  against  criminals-.  He  keeps  in  his  hand 
all  th6  various  springs  of  pain,  and  every  invisible  rack 
that  can  torment  the  head  or  members,  the  bowels  or  the 
joints  of  man  :  he  sets  them  at  their  dreadful  work  when 
and  where  he  pleases.  Let  the  sinner  tremble  at  the  name 
of  his  power  and  terror,  who  can  fill  both  flesh  and  spirit 
with  thrilling  agonies;  aftd  yet  he  never  punishes  beyond 
what  our  iniquities  deserve.  How  necessary  is  it  for  such 
sinful  and  guilty  beings  as  we  are,  whose  natures  are  ca- 
pable of  such  constant  and  acute  sensations  of  pain,  to 
have  the  God  of  nature  our  friend  and  our  reconciled  God? 

4.  When  we  feel  the  acute  pains  of  nature,  we  'may 
learn  something  of  the  exceeding  greatness  of  the  love  of 
Christ,  even  the  Son  of  God,'  that  glorious  Spirit,  who 
took  upon  him  flesh  and  blood  for  our  sakes,  that  he  might 
be  capable  of  pain  and  death,  though  he  had  never  sinned. 
He  endured  intense  anguish,  to  make  atonement  for  our 
crimes.*  "Because  the  children"  whom  he  came  to  save 
from  misery  "were  partakers  of  flesh  and  blood,  he  also 
himself  took  part  of  the  same,"  that  he  might  suffer  in 
the  flesh,  and  by  his  sufferings  put  away  our  sins. 

Happy  was  he  in  his  Father's  bosom,  and  the  delight 
of  his  soul  through  many  long  ages  before  his  incarnation. 
But  he  condescended  to  be  born  "in  the  likeness  of  sinful 
flesh,"  that  he  might  feel  such  smart  and  sorrows  as  our 
sins  had  exposed  us  to.  His  innocent  and  holy  soul  was 
uncapable  of  such  sort  of  sufferings  till  he  put  on  this  clo- 
thing of  human  nature,  and  became  a  Surety  for  sinful 
perishing  creatures.! 

*  This  language  is  loose  and  inaccurate.  It  seems  to  intimate  that  the 
Divine  Nature  of  the  Mediator  suffered;  which  was  impossible.  The  Son 
assumed  not  merely  "  flesh  and  blood,"  he  assumed  a  perfect  human  nature ; 
a  body  and  a  soul,  which  were  susceptible  of  pain. — En. 

•j-  His  "  innocent  and  holy  soul"  did  not  exist  before  "  he  put  on  this  clo- 
thing of  human  nature,"  as  it  was  a  constituent  part  of  that  nature.  It 
could  be  "  capable"  of  nothing  before  it  received  a  being.  The  language, 
if  not  intended  to  convey  a  very  erroneous  idea,  is  very  unguarded. — ED, 


NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED. 


197 


Let  us  survey  his  sufferings  a  little.  He  was  born  to 
sorrow,  and  trained  up  through  the  common  uneasy  cir- 
cumstances of  the  infant  and  childish  state,  till  he  grew 
up  to  man.  What  pains  did  attend  him  in  hunger  and 
thirst,  and  weariness,,  while  he  travelled  on  foot  from  city 
to  city,  through  wilds  and  deserts,  where  there  was  no 
food  nor  rest?  The  Son  of  man  sometimes  wanted  the 
common  bread  of  nature,  nor  had  he  where  to  lay  his  head. 
What  uneasy  sensations  was  he  exposed  to,  when  he  was 
buffeted,  when  he  was  smitten  on  the  cheek,  when  his 
tender  flesh  was  scourged  with  whips,  and  his  temples 
were  crowned  with  thorns,  when  his  hands  and  his  feet 
were  barbarously  torn  with  rude  nails,  and  fastened  to  the 
cross,  where  the  whole  weight  of  his  body  hung  on  those 
wounds?  And  what  man  or  angel  can  tell  the  inward 
anguish,  when  "his  soul  was  exceeding  sorrowful  unto 
death,"  and  the  conflict  ^and  agonies  of  his  spirit  forced 
out  the  drops  of  bloody  sweat  through  every  pore.  It 
was  by  the  extreme  torture  of  his  nature  that  he  was  sup- 
posed to  expire  on  the  cross  ;  these  were  the  pangs  of  his 
atonement  and  agonies  that  expiated  the  sins  of  men. 

0  blessed  Jesus  !  what  manner  of  sufferings  were  these  ? 
and  what  manner  of  love  was  it  that  willingly  gave  up 
thy  sacred  nature  to  sustain  them  ?  and  what  was  the  de- 
sign of  them,  but  to  deliver  us  from  the  wrath  of  God  in 
hell,  to  save  our  flesh  and  spirit  from  eternal  anguish  and 
distress  there  ?  Why  was  he  "made  such  a  curse  for  us," 
but  "that  he  might  redeem  us  from  the  curse  of  the  law," 
and  the  just  punishment  of  our  own  iniquities. 

Let  us  carry  our  thoughts  of  his  love,  and  our  benefit 
by  it,  yet  one  step  further.  "Was  it  not  by  these  sorrows, 
and  this  painful  passion,  that  he  provided  for  us  this  very 
heaven  of  happiness,  where  we  shall  be  for  ever  freed 
from  all  pain  ?  Were  they  not  all  endured  by  him  to  pro- 
cure a  paradise  of  pleasure,  a  mansion  of  everlasting  peace 
and  joy  for  guilty  creatures,  who  had  merited  everlasting 
pain  ?  Was  it  not  by  these  his-  agonies  in  the  mortal  bo- 
dy, which  he  assumed,  that  he  purchased  for  each  of  us  a 
glorified  body,  strong  and  .immortal  as  his  own  when  he 
rose  .from  the  dead,  a  body  which  has  no  seeds  of  disease 
or  pain  in  it,  no  springs  of  mortality  or  death  ?  May  glo- 
ry, honour  and  praise,  with  supreme  pleasure,  ever  attend 
the  sacred  person  of  our  Redeemer,  whose  sorrows  and 

mi 


* 

198  NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED. 

anguish  of  flesh  and  spirit  were  equal  to  our  misery,  and 
to  his  own  compassion.          . 

5.  Another  lesson,  which  we  are  taught  by  the  long  and 
tiresome  pains  of  nature,  '  is  the  value  and  worth  of  the 
word  of  God,  and  the  sweetness  of  a  promise,  which  can 
give  the  kindest  relief  to  a  painful  hour,  and  sooth  the  an- 
guish of  nature.'  They  teach  us  the  excellency  of  the 
covenant  of  grace,  which  lias  sometimes  strengthened  the 
feeblest  pieces  of  human  nature  to  bear  intense  sufferings 
in  the  body,  and  which  sanctifies  them  all  to  our  advantage. 
Painful  and  tiresome  maladies  teach  us  to  improve  the 
promises  to  valuable  purposes,  and  the  promises  take  away 
half  the  smart  of  our  pains  by  the  sensations  of  divine  love 
let  into  the  soul. 

We  read  of  philosophers  and  heroes  in  some  ancient 
histories,  who  could  endure  pain  by  dint  of  reasoning,  by 
a  pride  of  their  science,  by  an  obstinacy  of  heart,  or  by 
natural  courage ;  but  a  Christian  takes  the  word  of  a  pro- 
mise, and  lies  down  upon  it  in  the  midst  of  intense  pains 
of  nature  ;  and  the  pleasure  of  devotion  supplies  him 
with  such  ease,  that  all  the  reasonings  of  philosophy,  all 
the  courage  of  nature,  all  the  anodynes  of  medicine,  and 
soothing  plaisters  have  attempted  without  success.  When  a 
child  of  God  can  read  his  Father's  love  in  a  promise,  and 
by  searching  into  the  qualifications  of  his  own  soul,  can 
lay  faster  hold  of  it  by  a  living  faith,  the  rage  of  his  pain 
is  much  allayed,  and  made  half  easy.  A  promise  is  a 
sweet  couch  to  rest  a  languishing  body  in  the  midst  of  pains, 
and  a  soft  repose  for  the  head  or  heart-ache. 

The  Stoicks  pretended  to  give  ease  to  pain,  by  persuad- 
ing themselves  'there  was  no  evil  in  it;'  as  though  the 
mere  misnaming  of  things  would  destroy  their  nature  :  but 
the  Christian,  by  a  sweet  submission  to  the  evil  which  his 
heavenly  Father  inflicts  upon  his  flesh,  reposes  himself  at 
the  foot  of  God  on  the  covenant  of  grace,  and  bears  the 
wounds  and  the  smart  with  much  more  serenity  and  hon- 
our. 'It  is  my  heavenly  Father  that  scourges  me,  and  I  know 
he  designs  me  no  hurt,  though  he  fills  my  flesh  with  present 
pain:  his  own  presence,  and  the  sense  of  his  love,  soften  the 
anguish  of  all  that  I  feel:  he  bids  me  not  yield  to  fear,  for 
when  I  pass  through  the  fires  he  will  be  with  me  ;  and 
he  that  loved  me,  and  died  for  me,  has  suffered  greater 
sorrows  and  more  anguish  on  my  account,  than  what  he 


NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.  199 

calls  me  to  bear  under  the  strokes  of  his  wise  and  holy 
discipline  :  he  has  left  his  word  with  me  as  an  universal 
medicine  to  relieve  me  under  all  my  anguish,  till  he  shall 
bring  me  to  those  mansions  on  high,  where  sorrows  and 
pains  are  found  no  more.' 

6.  Anguish  and  pain  of  nature  here  on  earth  teach  us 
'the  excellency  and  use  of  the  mercy-seat  in  heaven,  and 
the  admirable  privilege  of  prayer.'  Even  the  sons  of 
mere  nature  are  ready  to  think  of  God  at  such  a  season ; 
and  they  who  never  prayed  before,  'pour  out  a  prayer  be- 
fore him  when  his  chastening  is  upon  them,'  Isa.  xxvi.  16. 
An  hour  of  twinging  and  tormenting  pain,  when  crea- 
tures and  medicines  can  give  no  relief,  drives  them  to  the 
throne  of  God  to  try  whether  he  will  relieve  them  or  not. 
But  much  more  delightful  is  it  for  a  child  of  God  that  has 
been  used  to  address  the  throne  of  grace,  to  run  thither  with 
pleasure  and  hope,  and  to  spread  all  his  angu  ish  before  the  face 
of  his  heavenly  Father.  The  blessed  God  has  built  this  mer- 
cy-seat for  his  people  to  bring  all  their  sorrows  thither,  and 
spread  them  before  his  eyes  in  all  their  smarting  circumstan- 
ces, and  he.  has  been  often  pleased  to  speak  a  word  of  relief. 

Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  when  he  dwelt  in  flesh  and 
blood,  practised  this  part  of  religion  with  holy  satisfaction 
and  success.  "  Being  in  an  agony  he  prayed  more  earnest- 
ly," and  an  angel  was  sent  to  strengthen  and  comfort  him, 
Luke  xxii.  43, 44. 

This  was  the  relief  of  holy  David  in  ancient  times, 
Psalm  xxv.  18,  "Look  upon  my  affliction  and  my  pain, 
and  pardon  all  my  sins."  Psal.  cxvi.  3,  4,  "  The  sorrows 
of  death  compassed  me,  and  the  pains  of  hell,  or  the  grave, 
took  hold  of  me ;  then  called  I  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord  ; 
0  Lord,  I  beseech  thee,  deliver  my  soul."  And  when  he 
found  a  gracious  answer  to  his  request,  he  acknowledges  the 
grace  of  God  therein,  and  charges  his  soul  to  dwell  near  to 
God;  "return  to  thy  rest,  0  my  soul,  for  the  Lord  hath  dealt 
bountifully  with  thee;  I  was  brought  low,  and  he  helped  me, 
hedeliveredmy  soiilfrom  death,  and  mine  eyes  from  tears." 
•  But  we  have  stronger  encouragement  than  David  was 
acquainted  with,  since  it  is  revealed  to  usj/that  we  "have 
an  high  Priest"  at  this  throne  ready  to  bespeak  all  neces- 
sary relief  for  us  there,  Heb.  ii.  18.  "An-  high  Priest 
who  can  be  touched  with  the  feeling  of  our  infirmities," 
who  has  sustained  the  same  sorrows  and  pains  in  the  flesh, 


200  NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED. 

who  can  pity  and  relieve  his  people  under  their  maladies 
and  acutest  anguish,  Heh.  iv.  15.  When  we  groan  and 
sigh  under  continued  pains,  they  are  ready  to  make  nature 
weary  and  faint :  we  groan  unto  the  Lord,  who  knows 
the  language  of  our  frailty ;  our  High  Priest  carries  every 
groan  to  the  mercy-seat;  his  compassion  works  towards 
his  brethren,  and  he  will  suffer  them  to  continue  no  longer 
under  this  discipline  than  is  necessary  for  their  own  best 
improvement  and  happiness. 

0  how  much  of  this  sort  of  consolation  has  many  a 
Christian  learnt  and  tasted,  by  a  holy  intercourse  with 
heaven,  in  such  painful  seasons?  How  much  has  he 
learnt  of  the  tender  mercies  of  God  the  Father,  and  of  the 
pity  and  sympathy  of  our  great  High  Priest  above  ?  Who 
would  be  content  to  live  in  such  a  painful  world  as  this  is, 
without  the  pleasure  and  relief  of  prayer  ?  Who  would 
live  without  an  interest  at  this  mercy-seat,  and  with- 
out the  supporting  friendship  of  this  Advocate  at  the 
throne  ? 

Thus  I  have  run  over  the  chief  lessons  of  instruction  or 
doctrine,  which  may  be  derived  from  our  sejisations  of 
.pain  here  in  this  world  :  but  there  is  no  need  of  this  sort 
of  discipline  in  the  blessed  regions  of  heaven  to  teach  the 
inhabitants  such  truths. 

They  will  remember  'what  feeble  helpless  creatures 
they  were'  when  they  dwelt  in  flesh  and  blood  ;  but  they 
have  put  off  those  fleshly  garments  of  mortality,  with  all 
its  weaknesses  together.  The  spirits  of  the  blessed  know 
nothing  of  those  frailties,  nor  shall  the  bodies  of  the  saints, 
new  raised  from  the  dust,  bring  back  any  of  their  old  in- 
firmities with  them.  These  blessed  creatures  know  well 
'how  entirely  dependent  they  are  for  all  things  upon  God* 
their  Creator,  without  the  need  of  pains  and  maladies  to 
teach  them,  for  they  live  every  moment  with  God,  and  in 
a  full  dependence  upon  him  :  they  are  supported  in  their 
life,  and  all  its  everlasting  blessings,  by  his  immediate 
presence,  power  and  mercy. 

They  have  no  need  of  pain  in  those  fields  or  gardens  of 
pleasure  to  teach  them  the  evil  of  sin;  they  well  remem- 
ber all  the  sorrows  they  have  passed  through  in  their  mor- 
tal state,  while  they  were  traversing  the  wilderness  of 
this  world,  and  they  know  that  sin  was  the  cause  of  them 
9!!.  They  see  the  evil  of  sin  in  the  glass  of  the  divine 


NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.  201 

holiness,  and  the  hateful  contrariety  that  is  in  it  to  the  na- 
ture of  God  is  discovered  in  the  immediate  light  of  all  his 
perfections,  his  wisdom,  his  truth  and  his  goodness.  They 
behold  the  evil  of  sin  in  the  marks  of  the  sufferings  of 
their  blessed  Saviour;  he  appears  in  glory  'as  the  Lamb 
that  was  slain,'  and  carries  some  memorials  of  his  death 
about  him,  to  let  the  saints  "know  for  ever  what  he  has 
suffered  to  make  atonement  for  their  sins. 

Nor  have  the  blessed  above  any  need  to  learn  '  how 
dreadfully  God  can  punish  sin  and  sinners,'  while  they 
behold  his  indignation  going  focth  in  a  long  and  endless 
stream,  to  make  the  wicked  enemies  of  God  in  hell  for 
ever  justly  miserable.  And  in  this  sense  it  may  be  said, 
that  "  the  smoke'of  their  torments  comes  up  before  God 
and  his  holy  angels,  and  his  saints  for  ever." 

Nor  do  these  happy  beings  stand  in  need  of  new  sensa- 
tions of  pain,  to  teach  them  'the  exceeding  greatness  of 
the  love  of  Christ,'  who  exposed  himself  to  intense  and 
smarting  anguish,  both  of  flesh  and  spirit.,  to  procure  their 
salvation.  For  while  they  dwell  amidst  tho  bloasodnosg 
of  that  state,  which  the  Redeemer  purchased  with  the 
price  of  his  own  sufferings,  they  can  never  forget  his  love. 

Nor  do  they  want  to  learn  in  heaven  the  'value  of  the 
word  of  God  and  his  promises,'  by  which  they  were  sup- 
ported under  their  pains  and  sorrows  in  this  mortal  state. 
Those  promises  have  been  fulfilled  to  them  partly  on  earth, 
and  in  a  more  glorious  and  abundant  manner  in  the  hea- 
venly world.  They  relish  the  sweetness  of  all  those 
words  of  mercy,  in  reviewing  the  means  whereby  divine 
grace  sustained  them  in  their  former  state  of  trial,  and  in 
the  complete  accomplishment  of  the  best  of  those  promises 
in  their  present  situation  amidst  ten  thousand  eadless 
blessings. 

And  if  any  of  them  were  too  cold  and  remiss,  and  in- 
frequent in  their  applications  to  the  mercy-seat  by  prayer, 
when  they  were  here  on  earth,  and  stood  in  need  of  chas- 
tisement to  make  them  pour  out  their  prayers  to  God,  yet 
they  can  never  forget  'the  value  of  this  privilege,'  while 
they  themselves  dwell  round  about  the  throne,  and  behold 
all  their  ancient  sincere  addresses  to  the  mercy-seat  an- 
swered and  swallowed  up  in  the  full  fruition  of  their  pre- 
sent glories  and  joys.  Praise  is  properly  the  language  of 
heaven,  \VTien  all  their  wants  are  supplied,  and  their  pray- 
26 


202  NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSEJD. 

ers  on  earth  are  finished  ;  and  whatever  further  desires 
they  may  have  to  present  before  God,  the  throne  of  grace 
is  ever  at  hand,  and  God  himself  is  ever  in  the  midst  of 
them  to  bestow  every  proper  blessing  in  its  season  that 
belongs  to  the.  heavenly  world.  Not  one  of  them  can  any 
more  stand  in  need  of  chastisement  or  painful  exercises  of 
the  flesh  to  drive  them  to  the  throne  of  God,  while  they 
are  at  home  in  their  Father's  house,  and  for  ever  near  him 
and  his  all-sufficiency.  It  is  from  thence  they  are  con- 
stantly deriving;  immortal  supplies  of  blessedness,  as  from 
a  spring  that  will  never  fail. 

§  V.  I  proceed  now  to  consider  in  the  last  place,  what 
are  the  '  practical  lessons  which  pain  may  teach  us  while 
we  are  here  on  earth'  in  our  state  of  probation  and  disci- 
pline, and  shall  afterwards  make  it  evident,  that  there  is 
'no  need  of  pain  in  heaven  for  the  same  purposes.' 

1.  The  frequent  returns  of  pain  may  put  us  in  mind  '  to 
offer  to  God  his  due  sacrifices  of  praise  for  the  months  and 
years  of  easp  which  WP  have  enjoyed  ;'  wp  are  too  ready 
to  forget  the  mercy  of  God  herein,  unless  we  arc  awaken- 
ed by  new  painful  sensations ;  and  When  we  experience 
new  relief,  then  our  lips  are .  opened  with  thankfulness, 
and  our  mouth  shews  forth  his  praise.  Then  we  cry  out 
with  devout  language,  <  Blessed  be  the  Lord  that  has  de- 
livered us!'  When  we  have  been  oppressed  for  some 
time  with  extreme  anguish,  then  one  day,  or  one  hour  of 
ease  fills  the  heart  and  the  tongue  with  thankfulness; 
1  blessed  be  the  God  of  nature  that  has  'appointed  medi- 
cines to  restore  our  ease,  and  blessed  be  that  goodness  that 
has  given  success  to  them!'  What  a  rich  mercy  is  it 
under  our  acute  torments,  that  there  are  methods  of  relief 
and  h2aling  found  among  the  powers  of  nature,  among  the 
plants  and  the  herbs,  .and  the  mineral  stores  which  are 
under  ground  ?  Blessed  be  the  Lord,  who  in  the  course 
of  his  providence  has  given  skill  to  physicians  to  compose 
and  to  apply  the. proper  means  of  relief!  Blessed  be  that 
hand  that  has  planted  every  herb  in  the  field  or  the  gar- 
den, and  has  made  the  bowels  of  the  earth  to  teem  with 
medicines  for  the  recovery  of  our  health  and  ease,  and 
blessed  be  his  name  who  has  rebuked  our  maladies,  who 
has  constrained  the  smarting  diseases  to  depart  by  the  u&e 
of  balms  and  balsams  that  are  happily  applied  ! 

While  we  enjoy,  the  benefits  of  common  life,  in  health 


NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.  203 

of  body  and  in  easy  circumstances,  we  are  too  often" 
thoughtless  of  the  hand  of  God,  which  showers  clown 
these  favours  of  heaven  apon  us  in  a  long  and  constant 
succession ;  but  when  he  sees  fit  to  touch  us  with  his  fin- 
ger, and  awaken  some  lurking  malady  within  us,  our  ease 
vanishes,  pur  days  are  restless  and  painful,,  and  tiresome 
nights  of  darkness  pass  over  us  without  sleep  or  repose. 
Then  we  repent  that  we  have  so  long  forgotten  the  God 
of  our  mercies  ;  and  we  learn  to  lift  up  our  praises  to  the 
Lord,  that  every  night  of  our  Jives  has  not  been  restless, 
that  every  day  and  hour  has  not  been  a  season  of  racking 
pain.  Blessed  be  the  Lord  that  enables  us,  without  an- 
guish or  uneasiness,  to  fulfil  the  common  business  of  the 
day ;  and  blessed  be  his  hand  that  draws  the  peaceful  cur- 
tains of  the  night  round  about  us  !  And  even  in  the  midst 
of  moderate  pains,  we  bless  his  name  who  gives  us  re- 
freshing slumbers ;  and  we  grow  more  careful  to  employ 
and  improve  every  moment  of  returning  ease,  as  the  most 
proper  way  of  expressing  our  thankfulness  to  our  Al- 
mighty healer. 

Alas,  what  poor,  sorry,  sinful  creatures  are  we  in  the 
present  state,  who  want  to  be  taught  the  value  of  our  mer- 
cies by  the  removal  of  them !  The  man  of  a  robust  and 
vigorous  make,  and  a  healthy  constitution,  knows  not  the 
true  worth  of  health  and  ease,  nor  sets  a  due  value  upon 
these  blessings  of  heaven ;  but  we  are  taught  to  thank 
God  feelingly,  for  an  easy  hour  after  long  repeated  twinges 
of  pain.  We  bless  that  goodness  which  gives  us  an  easy 
night  after  a  day  of  distressing  anguish.  Blessed  be  the 
God  of  nature  and  grace,  that  has  not  made  the  gout  or 
the  stone  immortal,  nor  subjected  our  sensible  powers  to 
an  everlasting  cholic  or  tooth-ache. 

2.  Pain  in  the  flesh  more  effectually  teaches  us  'to  sym- 
pathise with  those  who  suffer.'  We  learn  a  tenderness  of 
soul  experimentally  by  our  own  sufferings.  We  generally 
love  self  so  well,  that  we  forget  our  neighbours  under 
special  tribulation  and  distress,  unless  we  are  made  to  feel 
them  too.  In  a  particular  manner,  when  our  nature  is 
pinched  and  pierced  through  with  some  smarting  malady, 
we  learn  to  pity  those  who  lie  groaning  under  the  same 
disease.  A  kindredship  of  sorrows  and  sufferings  works 
up  our  natures  into  compassion  ;  and  we  find  our  own 
hearts  more  sensibly  affected  with  the  groans  of  ourfriendi 


204  NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED. 

under  a  sharp  fit  of  the  gout  or  rheumatism,  when  we  our- 
selves have  felt  the  stings  of  the  same  distemper. 

Our  blessed  Saviour  himself,  though  he  wanted  not 
compassion  and  love  to  the  children  of  men,  since  he  came 
down  from  heaven  on  purpose  to  die  for  them  ;  yet  he  is 
represented  to  us  as  our  merciful  High  Priest,  who  had 
learnt  sympathy  and  compassion  to  our  sorrows  in  the 
same  way  of  experience  as  we  learn  it.  He  was  "encom- 
passed about  with  infirmities,"  when  he  took  the  sinless 
frailties  of  our  nature  upon  him,  that  he  might  learn  to 
pity  us  under  those  frailties.  "In  that  he  himself  hath  suf- 
fered being  tempted,  he  is  able  to  succour  them  that  are 
tempted.  For  we  have  not  an  High  Priest  which  cannot 
be  touched  with  the  feeling  of  our  infirmities,  but  was  in 
all  points  tempted  like  as  we  are,"  though  he  was  always 
"without  sin;  and  by  the  things  which  he  suffered," he  may 
be  said,  after  the  manner  of  men,  to  learn  'sympathy  and  pi- 
ty' to  miserable  creatures,  as  well  as  obedience  to  God, 
who  is  blessed  for  ever,  Heb.  ii.  18,  and  iv.  15,  and  v.  2,  8. 

3.  Since  our  natures  are  subject  to  pain,  it  should  teach 
us  'watchfulness  against  every  sin,  lest  we  double  our  own 
distresses  by  the  mixture  of  guilt  with  them.'  How  care- 
ful should  we  be  to  keep  always  a  clear  conscience,  that 
we  may  be  able  at  all  times  to  look  up  with  pleasure  to 
the  hand  of  God  who  smites  us,  and  be  better  composed 
to  endure  the  pains  which  he  inflicts  upon  us  for  our  trial 
and  improvement  in  grace.  Innocence  and  piety,  and  a 
peaceful  conscience,  are  an  admirable  defence  to  support 
the  spirit  against  the  overwhelming  efforts  of  bodily  pain : 
but  when  inward  reproaches  of  mind,  and  a  racking  con- 
science join  with  acute  pain  in  the  flesh,  it  is  double  misery, 
and  aggravated  wretchedness.  The  scourges  and  inward 
remorse  of  our  own  hearts,  joined  to  the  sorrows  of  nature, 
add  torment  to  torment.  How  dreadful  is  it  when  we  are 
forced  to  confess,  'I  have  procured  all  this  to  myself  by 
intemperance,  by  my  rashness,  by  my  obstinacy  against 
the  advice  of  friends,'  and  rebellion  against  the  commands 
of  God! 

ProTjably  it  was  such  circumstances  as  these,  that  gave 
the  soul  of  David  double  anguish,  "when  his  bones  waxed 
old,  through  his  roaring  all  the  day  long,  when  day  and 
night  the  hand  of  God  was  heavy  upon  him,  and  his  moist  • 
ure  was  turned  into  the  drought  of  summer  j"  when  he 


NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.  205 

complained  unto  God,  "thine  arrows  stick  fast  in  me,  and 
thy  hand  presseth  me  sore:  there  is  no  soundness  in  my 
flesh,  because  of  thine  anger  ;  nor  any  rest  in  my  bones, 
because  of  my  sin.  Mine  iniquities  are  gone  over  mine 
head  as  an  heavy  burden,  they  are  too  heavy  for  me.  Deep 
calls  unto  deep  at  the  noise  of  thy  water-spouts,  all  thy 
waves  and  thy  billows  are  gone  ovej  me."  The  'deep  of 
anguish'  in  my  "flesh  calls  to  the  'deep  of  sorrow'  in  my 
soul,  and  makes  a  tremendous  tumult  within  me.  "  My 
wounds  stink,  and  are  corrupt,  because  of  my  foolishness: 
I  am  feeble  and  sore  broken  ;  I  have  roared  by  reason  of 
the  disquietness  of  my  heart ;"  nor  could  he  find  any  rest 
or  ease  till  he  "acknowledged  his  sin  unto  God,  and  con- 
fessed his  transgressions,"  and  till  he  had  some  comfortable 
hope  that  "God  had  forgiven  the  iniquity  of  his  sin."  See 
this  sorrowful  scene  exemplified  in  a  very  affecting  manner 
in  the  32  d  and  38th  Psalms.  Happy  is  the  man  that  walks 
closely  with  his  God  in  the  days  of  health  and  ease,  that 
whenever  it  shall  please  his  heavenly  Father  to  try  him 
with  smarting  pain,  he  may  find  sweet  relief  from  a  peace- 
ful conscience,  and  .humble  appeals  to  God  concerning  his 
own  sincerity  and  watchfulness. 

4.  Pain  in  the  flesh  may  sometimes  be  sent  by  the  hand 
of  God,  to  teach  us  'to  wean  ourselves  by  degrees  from 
this  body,  which  we  love  too  well  ;  this  body,  which  has 
all  the  springs  of  pain  in  it.'  How  little  should  we  be 
fond  of  this  flesh  and  blood  in  the  present  feeble  state, 
wherein  we  are  continually  liable  to  one  malady  or  another; 
to  the  head-ache  or  the  heart-ache,  to  wounds  or  bruises, 
and  uneasy  sensations  of  various  kinds?  Nor  can  the  soul 
secure  itself  from  them,  while  it  is  so  closely  united  to  this 
mortal  body.  And  yet  we  are  too  fond  of  our  present 
dwelling,  though  it  be  but  a  cottage  of  clay,  feeble  and 
ruinous,  where  the  winds  and  the  storms  are  continually 
ready  to  break  in  and  distress  us.  A  sorry  habitation  in- 
deed for  aii  immortal  spirit,  since  sin  has  mingled  so  many 
diseases  in  our  constitution,  has  made  so  many  avenues  for 
smart  and  anguish  in  our  flesh,  and  we  are  capable  of  ad- 
mitting pain  and  agonies  at  every  pore. 

Pain  is  appointed  to  be  a  sort  of  balance  to  the  'tempt- 
ing pleasures  of  life,'  and  to  make  us  feel  that  perfect 
happiness  does  not  grow  among  the  inhabitants  of  flesh 
and  Wood.  Pain  takes  away  the  pleasures  of  the  day  and 

S 


206  NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED. 

the  repose  of  the  night,  and  makes  life  bitter  in  all  the 
returning  seasons.  The  Got!  of  nature  and  grace  is  pleased, 
by  sending  sickness  and  pain,  to  loosen  his  own  children 
by  degrees  from  their  fond  attachment  to  this  fleshly,  ta- 
bernacle, and  to  make  us  willing  to  depart  at  his  call. 

A  long  continuance  of  pain,  or  the  frequent  repeated 
twinges  of  it,  will  <teacn  a  Chrjstian  and  incline  him  to 
meet  death  with  courage,  at  the  appointed  hour  of  release.' 
This  will  much  abate  the  fierceness  of  the  king  of  terrors, 
when  he  appears  as  a  sovereign  physician  to  finish  every 
malady  of  nature.  Death  is  sanctified  to  the  holy  soul,  and 
by  the  covenant  of  grace  this  curse  of  nature  is  changed 
into  a  blessing.  The  grave  is  a  safe  retiring  place  from 
all  the  .attacks  of  disease  and  anguish  :  and  there  are  some 
incurables  here  on  earth,  which  can  find  no  perfect  relief 
but  in  the  grave.  Neither  maladies,  nor  tyrants  can  stretch 
their  terrors  beyond  this  life :  and  if  we  can  but  look  upon 
death  as  a  conquered  enemy,  and  its  sting  takcm  away  by 
the  death  of  Christ,  we  shall  easily  venture  into  this  last 
combat,  and  obtain  an  everlasting  victory.  Blessed  be  God 
for  the  grave  as  a  refuge  from  smarting  pains!  Thanks  be- 
to  God  through  Christ  Jesus,  who  enables  us  to  triumph 
over  the  last  pain  of  nature,  and  to  say,  "-0  death  where 
is  thy  sting?  and  0  grave  where  is  thy  victory?" 

In  the  fifth  and  last  place,  by  the  pains  that  we  suffer  in 
this  body,  'we  are  taught  to  breathe  after  the  blessedness 
of  the  heavenly  state  wherein  there  shall  be  no  pain.' 
When  the  soul  is  dismissed  from  the  bonds  of  flesh,  and 
presented  before  God  in  the  world  of  spirits  without  spot 
or  blemish  by  Jesus  our  great  Forerunner,  it  is  then  ap- 
pointed to  dwell  among  the  "spirits  of  the  just  made  per- 
fect," who  were  all  released  in  their  several  seasons  from 
the  body  of  flesh  and  sin.  Maladies  and  infirmities  of  every 
kind  are  buried  in  the  grave,  and  cease  for  ever ;  and  if  we 
survey  the  properties  of  the  new  raised  body  in  the  great 
resurrection-day,  as  described  1  Cor.  xv,  we  shall  find  no 
room  for  pain  there,  no  avenue  or  residence  for  smart  or 
anguish.  It  will  not  be  such  a  body  of  flesh  and  blood  as 
can  be  a  source  of  maladies,  or  subject  to  outward  injuries; 
but  by  its  own  principles  of  innate  vigour  and  immortality, 
as  well  as  by  the  power  and  mercy  of  God,  it  shall  be  for 
ever  secured  from  those  uneasy  sensations  which  made 
our  flesh  on  earth  painful  and  burdensome,  and  which' 


tlO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.  207 

tended  toward  dissolution  and  death.  It  is  such  a  body  as 
our  Lord  Jesus  wore  at  his  ascent  to  heaven  in  a  bright 
cloud,  for  ever  incorruptible  ;  "for  flesh  and  blood  cannot 
inherit  the  kingdom  of  God,  neither  doth  corruption  in- 
herit incorruption.  As  we  have  borne  the  image  of  the 
earthly"  Adam  in  the  frailties  and  sufferings  that  belong 
to  it,  so  shall  "we  also  bear  the  .image  of  the  heavenly," 
even  the  "Lord  Jesus  Christ  who  shall  change  our  vile 
body,  according- to  the  working  whereby  he  is  able  to  sub- 
due all  things  unto  himself,"  Phil.  iii.  21.  "We  shall 
hunger  no  more,  we  shall  thirst  no  more,  nor  shall  the 
sun  light  on  us"  with  its  parching  beams^  nor  shall  we  be 
annoyed  with  fire  or  frost,  with  heat  or  cold,  in  those 
temperate  and  happy  regions.  "The  Lamb  which  is  in 
the  midst  of  the  throne  shall  feed"  his  people  for  ever 
there  "with  the  fruits  of  the  tree  of  life/'  and  with  un- 
known entertainments  suited  to  a  glorified  state.  "He  shall 
lead  them  to  living  fountains  of  waters,  and  God  shall 
wipe  away  all  tears  from  their  eyes." 

Thus  have  I  set  before  you  'the  practical  lessons'  which 
pain  is  designed  to  teach  us  in  our  present  state  ;  and  we 
find  that  a  body  subject  to  maladies  and  pains,  is  a  well 
appointed  school,  wherein  our  great  Master  gives  us  these 
divine  instructions,  and  trains  us  up  by  degrees  for  the 
heavenly  world.  It  is  rough  discipline  indeed  for  the 
flesh,  but  if,  is  wholesome  for  the  soul :  and  there  are  many 
Christians  here  on  earth  that  have  been  made  to  confess, 
that  they  had  never  learnt  the  practice  of  some  of  these 
virtues,  if  they  had  not  been  taught  by  such  sort  of  dis- 
cipline. 

Pain,  which  was  brought  into  human  nature  at  first  by 
sin,  is  happily  suited  by  the  providence  of  God  to  such  a 
state  of  probation,  wherein  creatures  born  in  the  midst  of 
sins  ind  sorrows  are  by  degrees  recovered  to  the  love  of 
God  and  holiness,  and  fitted  for  a  world  of  peace  and  joy. 
But  when  we  have  done  with  this  world,  and  departed 
from  the  tribes  of  mortal  men,  and  from  all  the  scenes  of 
allurement  and  temptation,  there  is  no  more  need  that 
such  lessons  should  be  taught  us  in  heaven,  nor  any  pain- 
ful scourge  made  use  of  by  the  Father  of  spirits,  to  carry 
on,  or  to  maintain  the  divine  work  of  holiness  and  grace 
within  us.  Let  us  survey  this  matter  according  to  the 
foregoing  particulars. 


208 

Is  it  possible  that  while  the  blessed  above  are  surround- 
ed with  endless  satisfactions  flowing  from  the  throne  of 
God  and  the  Lamb,  they  should  'forget  their  benefactor, 
and  neglect  his  praises?'  Is  it  possible  they  should  dwell 
in  immortal  health  and  ease  without,  interruption,  under 
the  constant  vital  influences  of  the  King  of  Glory,  and  yet 
want  gratitude  to  the  spring  of  all  their  blessings? 

Nor  is  there  any  need  for  the  inhabitants  of  a  world, 
where  no  pains  and  sorrows  are  found,  'to  learn  compas- 
sion and  sympathy  to  those  who  suffer,'  for  there  are  no 
sufferers  there:  but  love  and  joy,  intense  and  intimate 
love,  and  a  harmony  of  joy  runs  through  all  that  blessed 
company,  and  unites  them  in  a  universal  sympathy,  if  I 
may  so  express,  it,  or  blissful  sensation  of  each  other's  hap- 
piness. And  I  might  add  also,  could  there  be  such  a  thing 
as  sorrow  and  misery  in  those  regions,  the  divine  piinci- 
ple  of  love  would  work  sweetly  and  powerfully  towards 
such  objects  in  all  necessary  compassion. 

What  if  pain  was  once  made  a  spur  to  our  duties,  in 
this  frail  state  of  flesh  and  blood  ?  What  if  pain  were  de- 
signed as  a  guard  against  temptation,  and  a  means  to' 
awaken  our  watch  against  new  transgression  and  guilt? 
But  in  a  climate  where  all  is  holiness,  and  all  is  peace,  in 
the  full  enjoyment  of  the  great  God,  and  secured  by  that 
everlasting  covenant  which  was  sealed  by  the  blood  of  the 
Lamb,  there  is  no  more  danger  of  sinning.  The  soal  is 
moulded  into  the  more  complete  likeness  of  God,  by  living 
for  ever  under  the  light  of  his  countenance  and  the  warm- 
est beams  of  his  love. 

What  if  we  had  need  of  the  stings  of  pai-n  and  anguish 
in  time  past,  'to  wean  us  by  degrees  from  this  body,  and 
from  all  sensible  things,'  and  to  make  us  willing  to  part 
with  them  all  at  the  call  of  God?  Yet  when  we  arrive  at 
the  heavenly  world,  we  shall  have  no  more  need  of  being 
weaned  from  earth,  we  shall  never  look  back  upon  that 
state  of  pain  and  frailty  with  a  wishful  eye,  being  for  ever 
satisfied  in  the  affluence  of  present  joys. 

0  glorious  and  happy  state  I  where  millions  of  creatures 
who  have  dwelt  in  bodies  of  sin  and  pain,  and  have  been 
guilty  of  innumerable  follies  and  offences  against  their  Ma- 
ker, yet  are  all  forgiven,  'their  robes  are  washed,  and  made 
white  in  the  blood  of  Jesus,'  their  iniquities  are  cancelled  for 
ever,  and  there  shall  not  be  one  stroke  more  from  the  hand 


NO  PAIN  AMONG  THE  BLESSED.  209 

/ 

of  God  to  chasten  them,  nor  one  more  sensation  of  pain 
to  punish  them.  Divine  and  illustrious  privilege  indeed, 
and  a  glorious  world,  where  complete  sanctification  of  all 
the  powers  of  nature  shall  for  ever  secure  us  from  new 
sins,  and  where  the  springs  and  causes  of  pain  shall  for 
ever  cease,  both  within  us  and  without  us.  Our  glorified 
bodies  shall  have  no  avenue  for  pain  to  enter ;  the  gates 
of  heaven  shall  admit  no  enemy  to  afflict  or  hurt  us.  God 
is  our  everlasting  friend,  and  our  souls  shall  be  satisfied 
with  the  "rivers  of  pleasure  which  flow  for  ever  at  the 
right  hand  of  God."  Amen. 


07  •• 


DISCOURSE    X. 


THE  FIRST  FRUITS  OF  THE  SPIRIT,  OR  THE   FORETASTE 
OF  HEAVEN. 

ROM.  viii.  23.  And  not  only  they,  but  ourselves  also  who  have  the  first 
fruits  of  the  Spirit,  even  we  ourselves  groan  within  ourselves,  waiting  for 
the  adoption,  that  is,  the  redemption  of  the  body. 

§  I.  BY  a  beautiful  figure  of  speech  the  Apostle  had 
been  describing,  in  the  foregoing  verses,  the  unnatural 
abuse  which  the  creatures  suffer  through  the  sins  of  men, 
when  they  are  employed  to  sinful  purposes  and  the  dis- 
honour of  God  their  Creator.  Permit  me  to  read  the  words 
and  represent  the  sense  of  them  in  a  short  paraphrase. 
Ver.  22.  "We  know  that  the  whole  creation  groaneth  and 
travaileth  in  pain  together  until  now."  The  earth  itself 
may  be  represented  as  groaning  to  bear  such  loads  of  ini- 
quity, such  a  multitude  of  wicked  men  who  abuse  the 
creatures  of  God  to  the  dishonour  of  him  that  made  them. 
The  air  may  be  said  to  groan  to  give  breath  to  those  vile 
wretches  who  abuse  it  in  filthiness  and  foolish  talking,  to 
the  dishonour  of  God,  and  to  the  scandal  of  their  neigh- 
bours ;  it  groans  to  furnish  men  with  breath  that  is  abused 
in  idolatry  by  the  false  worship  of  the  true  God,  or  the 
worship  of  creatures  which  is  abominable  in  his  sight. 
The  sun  itself  may  be  said  to  groan  to  give  light  to  those 
sinners  who  abuse  both  day-light  and  darkness  in  rioting 
and  wantonness,  in  doing  mischief  among  men  and  com- 
mitting fresh  iniquities  against  their  Maker.  The  moon 
and  stars  are  abused  by  adulterers  and  thieves,  and  other 
midnight  sinners,  when  they  any  way  afford  light  enough 
to  them  to  guide  them  in  their  pursuit  of  wicked  ways 
and  practices.  The  'beasts  of  burden'  may  be  said  also 
to  groan  and  be  abused  when  they  bear  the  wicked  sons 
and  daughters  of  Adam  to  the  accomplishment  of  their 
iniquities :  and  even  all  the  parts  of  the  brutal  world,  as 
well  as  of  the  inanimate  creation,  are  some  way  or  other 

210 


THE  FIRST  FRUITS  OF  THE  SPIRIT,  &C.  211 

made  to  Serve  the  detestable  and  wicked  purposes  of  the 
sinful  children  of  men,  and  may  be  figuratively  said  to 
groan  on  this  account.  And  if  we  have  tasted  of  the  fruits 
of  the  Spirit  of  grace;  we  cannot  but  in  some  measure 
groan  with  the  rest  of  the  creation  in  expectation  of  the 
blessed  day,  when  the  creatures  shall  be  delivered  from 
this  bandage  of  corruption,  to  which  the  providence  of 
God  has  suffered  them  to  be  subjected  in  this  degenerate 
state  of  things. 

We  hope  there  is  a  time  coming,  when  the  creatures 
themselves  shall  be  used  according  to  the  original  appoint- 
ment of  their  Maker,  agreeably  to  their  own  first  design, 
and  for  the  good  of  their  fellow-creatures,  and  supremely 
for  the  honour. of  their  God,  "in  that  day  when  holiness 
to  the  Lord  shall  be  written  upon  the  bells  of  the  horses ; 
and  every  pot  in  Jerusalem  shall  be  holiness  unto  the 
Lord  of  hosts."  Why  should  we  not  join  then"  with  the 
whole  creation  in  groaning  and  longing  after  this  promised 
time,  when  all  the  works  of  God  shall  be  restored  to  their 
rightful  use,  and  the  glory  of  the  Maker  shall  some  way 
or  other  be  made  to  shine  in  every  one  of  them  ? 

The  Apostle  then  adds,  in  the  words  of  my  text,  "and 
not  these  creatures  only,  but  ourselves  also 'who  have  the 
first  fruits  of  the  Spirit,"  we  who  are  filled  with  the  gifts 
and  graces  of  the  holy  Spirit,  and  eminently  the  first  fruits 
hereof  appear  in  our  taste  and  relish  of  the  divine  provis- 
ions that  God  has  given  us  here  in  this  world  to  prepare 
for  a  better ;  and  even  bestows  upon  some  of  his  Christian 
servants  these  first  fruits  of  the  tree  of  paradise,  these 
blessings,  and  these  foretastes  which  are  near  a-kin  to 
those  of  the  upper  world,  when  the  saints  shall  be  raised 
from  the  dead,  when  their  adoption  shall  be  clearly  mani- 
fested, and  they  shall  look  like  the  children  of  God,  and 
their  bodies  and  all  their  natural  powers  shall  be  redeemed 
from  those  disorders,  whether  of  sin  or  sorrow,  and  from 
all  the  springs  and  seeds  of  them,  which  they  are  more  or 
less  -liable  to  feel  in  the  present  state. 

Here  let  it  be  observed,  that  the  first  fruits  of  any  field, 
or- plant,  or  tree,  are  of  the  same  kind  with  the  full  product 
°f  ^h.e  h.arvest ;  therefore  it  is  plain,  that  the  first  fruits  of  the 
Spirit,  in  this  place,  cannot  chiefly  signify  the  gifts'  of  the 
Spirit,  such  as  the  gifts  of  tongues,  or  of  healing,  or  of  mira- 
cles, nor  the  gifts  of  prophecy,  preaching,  or  praying,  be- 


212  THE  FIRST  FRUITS  OF  THE  SPIRIT, 

cause  these  are  not  the  employments  nor  the  enjoyments  of 
heaven.  The  'first  fruits  of  the  Spirit'  must  rather  refer 
therefore  to  the  knowledge  and  holiness,  the  graces  and  the 
joys  which  are  more  perfect  and  glorious  in  the  heavenly 
state,  than  they  were  ever  designed  to  be  here  upon  earth. 
Now  these  first  fruits  of  graces  and  joys  are  sometimes  be- 
stowed upon  Christians  in  this  world,  in  such  a  degree  as 
brings  them  near  to  the  heavenly  state :  and  that  is  the  chief 
observation  I  design  to  draw  from  these  words,  viz.  'That 
Gotl  has  been  pleased  to  give  some  of  his  children  here  on 
earth  several  of  the  foretastes  of  the  heavenly  blessedness, 
the  graces  and  the  joys  of  the  upper  world  ;'  as  they  are  the 
first  fruits  of  that  paradise  to  which  we  are  travelling:  and 
these  privileges  have  brought  some  of  tl^e  saints  within 
the  verge  of  the  courts  of  heaven,  within  the  confines  and 
borders  of  the  celestial  country.  What  these  are  I  shall 
shew  immediately ;  but  before  'I  represent  them  I  desire 
to  lay  down  these  few  cautions. 

Caution  1.  'These  sensible  foretastes  of  heaven  do  not 
belong  to  all  Christians  ;  these  are  not  such  general  bles- 
sings of  the  covenant  of  grace,  of  which  every  Christian 
is  made  partaker  ;'  but  they  are  special  favours  now  and 
then  bestowed  on  some  particular  persons  by  the  special 
will  of  God.- (1.)  Such  as  are  more  eminent  in  faith,  and 
holiness,  and  prayer  than  others  are,  such  as  have  made 
great  advancements  in  every  part  of  religion,  in  mortifi- 
cation to  the  world,  in  spiritual-mindedness,  in  humility, 
and  in  much  converse  with  God,  &c.  Or,  (2.)  sometimes 
these  first  fruits  may  be  given  unto  such  as  are  weak  both 
in  reason  and  in  faith,  and  may  be  babes  in  Christ,  and  are 
not  able  by  their  reasoning  powers  to  search  out  their 
evidences  for  heaven,  especially  under  some  present  temp- 
tation or  darkness.  Or,  (3.)  sometimes  to  those  who  are 
called  by  providence  to  go  through  huge  and  uncommon 
trials  and  sufferings,  in  order  to  support  their  spirits,  and 
bear  up  their  courage,  their  faith  and  patience. 

It  is  true,  the  more  general  and  common  way  whereby 
God  prepares  his  people  for  heaven,  is  by  leading  them 
through  several  steps  of  advancing  holiness,  sincere  repen- 
tance, mortification  of  sin,  weanedness  from  the  world, 
likeness  to  God,  heavenly  minded  ness,  &c.  These  are  in- 
deed the  usual  preparatives  for  glory,  and  the  surest  evi- 
dences of  a  state  of  grace.  Therefore  let  not  any  person 


OR  THE  FORETASTE  OF  HEAVEIf.  213 

imagine  he  is  not  a  true  Christian,  because  he  hath  not 
enjoye.d  these  special  favours  and  signal  manifestations. 

Caution  2.  'If  there  be  any  who  have  been  favoured 
with  these  peculiar  blessings,  they  must  not  expect  them 
to  be  constant  and  perpetual,  nor  always  to  be 'given  in 
the  same  manner  or  same  measure  ;'  they  are  rare  blessings 
and  special  reviving  cordials  ;  they  are  not  the  common 
food  of  Christians,  nor  the  daily  nourishment  of  the  saints. 
The  word  of  God,  and  the  grace  of  Christ  in  the  promises 
is  our  daily  support,  and  the  constant  nourishment  of  our 
souls.  Cordials  arc  not  given  for  our  daily  nourishment 
in  the  life  of  grace. 

Caution  3.  'However  great  and  rapturous  these  fore- 
tastes may  be,  let  us  not  so  depend  on  them  as  to  neglect 
the  more  substantial  and. solid  evidences  for  heaven,  and 
those  steps  of  preparation'  which  I  have  elsewhere  men- 
tioned. IAet  not  those  who  have  enjoyed  them  give  a  loose 
to  th'eir  souls,  and  let  go  their  watchfulness,  or  neglect 
their  daily  mortification  and  diligence  in  every  duty.  Some 
of  these  divine  raptures  have  sometimes  •been  so  nearly 
counterfeited  by  raptures  of  fancy,  by  warm  self-love,  or 
perhaps  by  the  deceit  of  evil  angels,  that  they  are  not  so 
safe  a  foundation  for  our  dependence  and  assured  hope,  as 
the  soul's  experience  of  a  sincere  repentance,  and  general 
turn  of  heart  to  God,  and  mortification  of  sin,  and  delight 
in  every  practice  of  holiness.  The  devil  sometimes'  "has 
transformed  himself  into  an  angel  of  light,"  2  Cor.  xi.  14; 
and  there  have  been  some  who  at  first  hearing  of  the  gospel 
have  had  wondrous  raptures.  Heb.  vi.  4.  it  is  said,  "they 
have  tasted  of  the  powers  of  the  world  to  come,"  &c.  who 
have  yet  fallen  away  again,  and  having  lost  all  their  sense 
and  savour  of  divine  things>have  become  vile  apostates. 

Caution  4.  'If  you  seem  to  enjoy  any  of  these  affec- 
tionate and  rapturous  foretastes  of  heaven;  be  jealous  of 
the  truth  of  them,  if  ihr-y  have  not  a  proportionate  sanctify- 
ing influence  upon  your  souls  and  your1  actions.'  . 

If  you  find  they  incline  you  to  negligence  in  duty,  to 
coldness  in  the  common  practices  of  religion  and  godliness, 
if  they  make  you  fancy  that  common  ordinances  are  a  low 
and  needless  dispensation,  if  they  seem  to  excuse  you  from 
diligence  in  the  common  duties  of  life  towards  man,  or 
religion  towards  God,  there  is  great  reason  then  to  suspect 
them.  There  is  danger  lest  they  should  be  mere  sug- 


214  THE  FIRST  FRUITS  OF  THE  SPIRIT, 

gestions  artd  deceitful  workings  either  of  your  own  natural 
passions,  or  the  crafty  snares  of  the  artful  and  busy  ad- 
versary of  souls,  on  purpose  to  make  you.  neglect  solid 
religion^  and  make  you  part  with  what  is  substantial  for  a 
bright  and  flashy  glimpse  of  heavenly  things. 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  if  you  find  that  these  special 
favours  and  enjoyments  raise  your  hearts  to  a  greater  near- 
ness to  God,  and  more  constant  converse  with  him ;  if 
they  keep  you  deep  in  humility,  and  in  everlasting  depen- 
dence on  the  grace  of  Christ  in  the  gospel,  and  warm  and 
zealous  attendance  on  the  ordinances  of  worship  ;  if  they 
teach  and  incline  you  to  fulfil  every  duty  of  love  to  your 
neighbour,  and  particularly  to  your  fellow  Christians,  then 
they  appear  to  be  the  'fruits  of  the  Spirit;'  and  as  they 
fit  you  for  every  duty  and  every  providence  here  upon 
earth,  there  is  very  good  reason  to  hope  they  are  real  visits 
from  heaven,  and  are  sent  from  the  God  of  all  grace  to 
make  you  more  meet  for  the  heavenly  glory. 

§  II.  These  are  the  four  cautions.  I  proceed  now  to 
describe  some  "of  these  'foretastes  of  the  heavenly  blessed- 
ness,' and  shew  how  nearly  they  resemble  the  blessedness 
and  enjoyments  of  the  heavenly  world. 

First,  In  'heaven  there  is  a  near  view  of  God  in  his 
glories,  with  such  a  fixed  contemplation  of  his  several  per- 
fections, as  draws  out  the  heart  into  all  correspondent 
exerelses,  in  an  uncommon,  transcendent,  and  supreme 
degree.'  It  is  described  as  one  of  the  felicities  of  heaven, 
that  "we  shall  see  God."  Matth.  v.  8.  that  we  sh<lll  behold 
him  "face  to  face,"  and  not  in  shadows  and  glasses,  1  Cor. 
xiii.  12.  Let  us  exhibit  some  particulars  of  this  kind,  and 
dwell  a  little,  upon  them  in  the  most  easy  and  natural 
method. 

1.  In  heaven  the  blessed  inhabitants  'behold  the  majesty 
and  greatness  of  God'  in  such  a  light  as  fixes  their  thoughts 
in  glorious  wonder  and  the  humblest  adoration,  and  exalts 
them  to  the  highest,  pleasure  .and  praise.  Have  you.  never 
fallen  into  such  a  devout  and  fixed  contemplation  of  the 
*  majesty  of  God,'  as  to  be  even  astonished  at  his  glory 
and  greatness,  and  to  have  your  sods  so  swallowed  up  in 
this  sight,  that  all  the  sorrows  and  the  joys  of  this  life, 
all  the  businesses  and  necessities  of  it  hath  been  forgotten 
for  a  season,  all  things  below  and  beneath  God  have  seem- 
ed as  nothing  in  your  eyes?  All  the  grandeurs  and  splen- 


OR  THE  FORETASTE  OF  HEAVEN.  215 

dors  of  mortality  have  been  buried  in  darkness  and  oblivion, 
and  creatures  have,  as  it  were,  vanished  from  the  thoughts 
and  been  lost,  as  the  stars  die  and  vanish  at  the  rising  sun 
and  are  no  more  seen  ?  Have  you  never  seen  the  face  of 
God  in  his  sublime  grandeur,  excellence  and  majesty,  so 
as  to  shrink  into  the  dust  before  him,  and  lie  low  at  his 
foot  with  humblest  adoration  ?  And  you  have  been  trans- 
ported into  a  feeling  acknowledgment  of  your  own  no- 
thingness in  the  presence  of  God.  Such  a  sight  the  prophet 
Isaiah  seems  to  have  enjoyed,  Isai.  xi.  12,  15 — 17.  "Be- 
hold the  nations  before  him  are  as  the  drop  of  the  bucket, 
and  as  the  small  dust  of  the  balance,  he  taketh  up  the  isles 
as  a  very  little  thing.  All  nations  before  him  are  as  nothing, 
they  are  counted  to  him  less  than  nothing  and  vanity." 

When  the  lips  are  not  only  directed  to  speak  this  sub- 
lime language,  but  the  soul,  as  it  were,  beholds  God  in 
these  heights  of  transcendent  majesty,  it  is  overwhelmed 
with  blessed  wonder  and  surprising  delight,  even  while  it 
adores  in  most  profound  lowliness  and  self-abasement 
This  is  the  emblem  of  the  worship  of  the  heavenly  world, 
see  Rev.  iv.  10,  where  the  elders,  saints  .and  prophets, 
martyrs,  angels,  and  dominions,  and  principalities  of  the 
highest  degree  ucast  down  their  crowns"  at  the  foot  of 
him  that  made  them,  and  exalt  God  in  his  supremacy 
over  all. 

2.  In  heaven  there  are  such  blessed  and  extensive  sur- 
veys of  the  'infinite  knowledge  of  God,'  and  his  amazing 
wisdom  discovered  in  his  works,  as  makes  even  all  their 
own  heavenly  improvements  in  knowledge  and  under- 
standing to  appear  as  mere  ignorance,  darkness,  and  folly 
before  him.  In  such  an  hour  as  this  is,  the  holy  angels 
may  charge  themselves  with  folly  in  his  sight,  as  he  be- 
holds them  in  the  imperfection  of  their  understanding. 
Now  have  you  never  been  carried  away  in  your  medita- 
tions of  the  all-comprehensive  knowledge  of  God  to  such 
a  degree,  as  to  lose  and  abandon  all  your  former  pride  and 
appearances  of  knowledge  and  wisdom  in  all  the  native 
and  acquired  riches  of  it,  and  count  them  all  as  nothing 
in  h\s  sight?  Have  you  never  looked  upward  to  the  mid- 
nigh  it  skies,  and  with  amazement  sent  your  thoughts  up- 
ward to  him  who  'calls  all  the  stars  by  their  names,'  and 
bri  ngs  them  forth  in  all  their  sparkling  glories,  who  mar- 
sh; Js  them  in  their  nightly  ranks  and  orders,  and  then 


216  THE  FIRST  FRUITS  OF  THE  SPIRIT, 

stood  overwhelmed  with  sacred  astonishment  at  the  wisdom 
which  made  and  ranged  idem  all  in  their  proper  situations, 
and  there  appointed  them  to  fulfil  ten  thousand  useful  pur- 
poses, and  that  not  only  towards  this  little  ball  of  Earth, 
but  to  a  multitude  of  upper  planetary  worlds?  Have  you 
never  enquired  into  the  wonders  of  his  wisdom  in  framing 
the  bodies,  the  limbs,  and  the  senses  of  millions  of  animals, 
birds,  and  beasts,  fishes,  and  insects,  as  well  as  men  all 
around  this  globe,  and  who  hath  framed  all  their  organs 
and  powers  of  nature  with  exquisite  skill,  to  see  and  hear, 
to  run  and  fly,  and  swim,  to  produce  their  young  in  all 
their  proper  forms  and  sizes,  furnished  with  their  various 
powers,  and  to  feed  and  nourish  them  in  their  innumerable 
shapes  and  colours,  admirable  for  their  strength  and  beauty? 
And  have  you  not  felt  your  souls  filled  with  devout  adora- 
tion at  the  unspeakable  and  infinite  contrivances. of  God? 
And  not  only  his  'works  of  creation,'  but  of his  provi- 
dence too,  have  afforded  some  pious  souls  such  devout 
imazeirent.  What  astonishing  wisdom  must  that  be  which 
las  created  mankind  on  earth,  near  six  thousand  years  ago, 
ind  by  his  divine  word  in  every  age  continues  to  create 
them  or  give  them  being,  with  all  the  same  natural  powers 
find  parts,  beauties  and  excellencies!  That  he  hath  wisely 
governed  so  many  millions  of  animals  with  living  souls  or 
spirits  in  them,  so  many  millions  of  intelligent  creatures, 
endued  with  a  free  will  of  their  own  to  choose  or  refuse 
what  they  will  or  will  not  do,  and  hath  managed  this  in- 
numerable company  of  beings  in  all  ages,  notwithstanding 
all  their  different  and  clashing  opinions-  and  customs,  their 
crossing  humours,  wills  and  passions  in  endless  variety, 
and  yet  hath  made  them  all  subservient  to  his  own  com- 
prehensive designs  and  purposes  thiough  all  ages  of  the 
world  and  all  nations  on  earth!  What  unconceivable  wis- 
dom is  that  which  hath  effectually  appointed  them  all  to 
centre  in  the  accomplishment  of  his  own  eternal  counsels! 
And  with  what  overwhelming  amazement  will  this  scene 
appear,  when  he  shall  shut  up  the  theatre  of  this  earth, 
and  fold  up  these  heavens  as  a  curtain,  and  this  visible 
structure  of  things  shall  be  laid  in  ashes?  What  an  aston- 
ishing view  must  this  be  of  the  all-surveying  knowledge^ 
all-comprehending  wisdom  of  God,  and  with  what  holy 
and  humble  pleasure  must  the  pious  soul  be  filled  who  tal'^es 
in  and  enjoys  this  scene  of  infinite  varieties  and  wonders? 


OR  THE  FORETASTE   OF  HEAVEN.  217 

How  near  doth  such  an  hour  approach  to  the  bliss  of  heaven 
and  the  raptures  of  contemplation,  which  belong  to  the 
blessed  inhabitants  of  it? 

3.  I  might  add  something  of  the  almighty  power  of 
God  in  his  creation  and  government  of  the  world,  in  his 
kingdoms  of  nature  and  providence.  Did  not  the  angels 
rejoice  at  the  birth-day  of  this  universe,  and  "those  morn- 
ing stars  shout  for  joy"  at  the  first  appearance  of  this 
creation?  And  what  the  inhabitants  of  heaven  make  their 
song,  may  not  a  holy  soul  be  entertained  with  it,  even  to 
extacy  and  rapture  ?  I  behold,  says  he,  in  divine  medita- 
tion, I  behold  this  huge  structure  of  the  universe  rising 
out  of  nothing  at  the  voice  of  his  command ;  I  behold  the 
several  planets  in  their  various  orders  set  a  moving  by  the 
same  word  of  power.  With  what  delightful  surprise  do 
I  hear  him  pronouncing  the  words,  "let  there  be  light," 
and,  lo  'the  light  appears?'  Let  there  be  earth  and  seas  ; 
let  there  be  clouds ,and  heavens  ;  let  there  be  sun,  moon 
and  stars,  and  lo  the  heavens,  and  the  dry  land,  and  the 
waters  appear,  the  clouds  and  the  stars  in  their  various 
order  and  situation,  and  all  the  parts  of  the  creation  arise, 
all  replenished  with  proper,  ornaments  and  animals  accor- 
ding to  his  word.  At  his  command  nature  exists  in  all 
its  regions  with  all  its  furniture ;  the  beasts,  and  birds,  and 
fishes  in  all  their  forms  arise,  and  at  once  they  obey  the 
several  Almighty  orders  he  gave,  and  by  the  unknown 
and  unconceivable  force  of  such  a  word  they  leap  out  into 
existence  in  ten  thousand  forms. 

Again,  what  divine  pleasure  is  it  to  hear  God  beginning 
the  work  of  his  providence,  and  speaking  those  wondrous 
words  of  power  to  every  plant  and  animal,  "Be  fruitful, 
and  multiply,  and  replenish  the  earth  ;"  and  lo,  in  a  long 
succession  of  near  six  thousand  years  the  earth  has  been 
covered  all  over  with  herbs  and  plants,  with  shrubs  and 
tall  trees  in  all  their  beauty  and  dimensions.  The  air  hath 
been  filled  with  birds  and  insects,  the  seas  and  rivers  with 
fish,  and  the  dry  land  with  beasts  and  men  even  to  this 
present  day.  When  all  this  philosophy  is  changed  into 
devotion,  it  must  also  be  transformed  into  divine  and  un- 
utterable joy. 

Nor  are  these  things  too  low  and  mean  for  the  con- 
templation of  heavenly  beings:  for  God  is  seen  in  all  of 
them.     There  is  not  a  spire  of  grass  but  the  power  and 
28  T 


218  THE  FIRST  FRUITS  OF  THE  SPIRIT, 

wisdom  of  God  are  visible  therein.  And  it  is  certain  the 
heavenly  beings  must  be  sometimes  employed  in  the  con- 
templation of  many  of  these  lower  wonders.  The  plants 
and  beasts  in  desolate  regions  where  no  man  inhabits,  and 
in  distant  and  foreign  oceans  and  rivers,  where  the  fishy 
shoals  in  all  their  variety  and  numbers,  in  all  their  succes- 
sions and  generations  for  near  six  thousand  years  were 
never  seen  nor  known  by  any  of  the  sons  of  men ;  these 
seem  to  have  been  created  in  vain,  if  no  heavenly  beings 
are  acquainted  with  them,  nor  raise  a  revenue  of  glory  to 
him  that  made  them. 

This  almighty  power  therefore  which  made  this  huge 
universe,  which  sustains  the  frame  of  it  every  moment, 
and  secures  it  from  dissolving;  this  power  which  brings 
forth  the  stars  in  their  order,  and  worms  and  creeping 
things  in  their  innumerable  millions,  and  governs  all  the 
motions  of  them  to  the  purposes  of  divine  glory,  must 
needs  affect  a  contemplative  soul  with  raptures  of  pleasing 
meditation ;  and  in  these  sublime  meditations,  by  the  aids 
of  the  divine  Spirit,  a  soul  on  earth  may  get  near  to  heaven. 
And  with  what  religious  and  unknown  pleasure  at  such  a 
season  doth  it  shrink  its  own  being  as  it  were  into  an  atom, 
and  lie  in  the  dust  and  adore! 

4.  The  'all-sufficiency  of  the  great  God  to  form  and  to 
supply  every  creature  with  all  that  it  can  want  or  desire,' 
is  another  perfection  of  the  divine  nature,  which  is  better 
known  in  heaven  than  it  ever  was  here  on  earth,  and  af- 
fords another  scene  of  astonishment  and  sacred  delight. 
And  there  may  be  some  advances  towards  this  pleasure 
found  among  saints  below,  some  first  fruits  of  this  heavenly 
felicity  and  joy  in  the-all-sufficiency  of  God. 

My  whole  self,  body  aud  mind,  is  from  God  and  from 
him  alone.  All  my  limbs  and  powers  of  flesh  and  spirit 
were  derived  from  him,  and  borrowed  their  first  existence 
from  their  original  pattern  in  his  fruitful  mind.  All  that 
I  have  of  life  or  comfort,  of  breath  or  being,  with  all  my 
blessings  round  about  me,  is  owing  to  his  boundless  and 
eternal  fulness ;  and  all  my  long  reaching  hopes  and  end- 
less expectations  that  stretch  far  into  futurity,  and  an 
eternal  world,  are  growing  out  of  this  same  all-sufficient 
fulness. 

But  what  do  I  think  or  speak  of  so  little  a  trifle  as  I  am  ? 
Stretch  thy  thoughts,  0  my  soul,  through  the  lengths,  and 


OR  THE  FORETASTE  OP  HEAVEN*.  219 

breadths,  and  depths  of  his  creation,  0  what  an  uncon- 
ceivable fulness  of  being,  glory,  and  excellency  is  found 
in  God  the  universal  parent  and  spring  of  all !  What  an 
inexhaustible  ocean  of  being  and  life,  of  perfection  and 
blessedness  must  our  God  be,  who  supplies  all  the  infinite 
armies  of  his  creatures  in  all  his  known  and  unknown 
dominions  with  life  and  motion,  with  breath  and  activity, 
with  food  and  support,  with  satisfaction  and  delight!  Who 
maintains  the  vital  powers  and  faculties  of  all  the  spirits 
which  he  hath  made  in  all  the  visible  and  invisible  worlds, 
in  all  his  territories  of  light,  and  peace,  and  joy,  and  in 
all  the  regions  of  darkness,  punishment  and  misery !  In 
him  all  things  "live  and  move,  and  have  their  beings," 
Acts  xvii.  28.  Psal.  civ.  29,  "He  withdraws  his  breath 
and  they  die."  He  hath  writ  down  all  their  names  in  his 
own  mind,  he  gives  them  all  their  natures,  and  without 
him  there  is  nothing,  there  can  be  nothing;  all  nature 
without  him  would  have  been  a  perpetual  blank,  a  univer- 
sal emptiness,  an  everlasting  void,  and  with  one  turn  of 
his  will  he  could  sink  and  dissolve  all  nature  into  its  ori- 
ginal nothing. 

Confess,  0  my  soul,  thy  own  nothingness  in  his  presence, 
and  with  astonishing  pleasure  and  worship  adore  his  ful- 
ness. He  is  thy  everlasting  all.  Be  thy  dependence  ever 
fixed  upon  him ;  thou  canst  not,  thou  shalt  not  live  a  mo- 
ment without  him,  without  this  habitual  dependence,  and 
a  frequent  delightful  acknowledgment  of  it.  Such  a  devout 
frame  as  this,  is  heaven,  and  such  scenes  now  and  then 
passing  through  the  soul,  are  glimpses  of  the  heavenly 
blessedness. 

§  III.  Though  the  eternity  and  immensity  of  God 
might,  perhaps,  in  their  own  nature,  and  in  the  reason  of 
things,  be  first  mentioned,  yet  his  majesty,  his  power,  and 
his  wisdom,  in  their  sovereign  excellency  strike  the  souls 
of  creatures  more  immediately,  therefore  I  have  put  these 
first  However,  let  us  now  consider  the  eternity  of  the 
great  God,  and  his  omnipresence,  and  think  how  the  spi- 
rits in  heaven  are  affected  therewith,  and  what  kindred 
meditations  may  be  derived  from  these  perfections  by  the 
saints  here  on  earth.  I  proceed  therefore, 

5.  To  the  eternity  of  God  :  which  though  the  most 
exalted  spirit  in  heaven  cannot  comprehend,  yet  it  is 
probable  they  have  some  nearer  and  clearer  discovery  of 


220 

it  than  we  can  have  here  in  this  mortal  state,  while  we 
dwell  in  flesh  and  blood.  We  have  nothing  in  this  visi- 
ble world  that  gives  us  so  much  as  an  example  or  simili- 
tude of  it.  The  great  God  "  who  is,  who  was,"  and 
"  who  is  to  come"  through  all  ages,  he  is,  and  was,  and 
for  ever  will  be  the  same.  Let  us  go  back  as  many  thou- 
sand ages  as  we  can  in  our  thoughts,  and  still  an  eternal 
God  was  before  them  ;  a  Being  that  had  no  beginning 
of  his  existence,  nor  will  have  any  end  of  his  life  or  du- 
ration. And  as  he  says  to  Moses,  my  name  is  /  am  that 
I  am,  so  as  there  is  nothing  which  had  any  hand  in  his 
being,  but  all  the  reasons  ol  it  are,  derived  from  his  own 
self-fulness,  therefore  we  may  say  of  him  that  he  is  be- 
cause he  is,  and  because  he  ivill  be.  He  had  no  spring 
of  his  first  beginning,  nor  any  cause  of  his  continued  ex- 
istence, but  what  is  within  himself.  We  can  never  set 
ourselves  in  too  mean  a  light  when  an  eternal  God  is  near 
us  ;  and  every  thing  besides  God  can  be  but  little  in 
our  eyes. 

And,  O  my  thinking  powers,  are  ye  not  sweetly  lost  in 
this  holy  rapture,  and  overpowered  with  divine  pleasure, 
in  such  meditation  as  this  ?  Art  thou  not,  0  my  soul, 
delightfully  surprised  with  the  thoughts  of  such  self-suf- 
ficience  and  such  an  unconceivable  perfection  ?  Thy  be- 
ing, considered  as  here  in  this  life,  is  not  so  much  in 
the  sight  of  God  as  an  atom  in  comparison  of  the  whole 
earth  ;  and  even  the  supposed  future  ages  of  thy  exis- 
tence in  the  eternal  state  are  inconceivably  short,  when 
compared  with  the  glory  of  that  Being  that  never  began 
his  life  or  his  duration. 

Many  things  here  on  earth  concur  towards  my  satis- 
faction and  peace  ;  but  if  I  have  God  my  friend,  I  have 
all  in  him  that  I  can  possibly  want  or  desire.  Let  me 
then  live  no  longer  upon  creatures  when  God  is  all. 

Let  sun,  moon  and  stars  vanish,  and  all  this  visible 
creation  disappear  and  be  for  ever  annihilated  if  God 
please,  he  himself  is  still  my  eternal  hope  and  never- 
failing  spring  of  all  my  blessedness  :  my  expectations 
are  continually  safe  in  his  hands,  and  shall  never  fail 
while  I  am  so  near  to  him.  This  is  joy  unspeakable 
and  akin  to  glory. 

6.  Let  us  meditate  also  on  the  immensity  of  God, 
which  I  think  is  much  better  expressed  by  his  omni- 


OR  THE  FORETASTE  OF  HEAVEN.  221 

presence-  God  is  wheresoever  any  creature  is  or  can 
be  ;  Jtnowing  immediately  by  his  own  presence  all  that 
belongs  to  them,  all  that  they  are  or  can  be,  all  that 
they  do  or  can  do,  all  that  concerns  them,  whether  their 
sins  or  their  virtues,  their  pains  or  their  pleasures,  their 
hopes  or  their  fears.  It  implies  also  that  he  doth  by  his 
immediate  power  and  influence  support  and  govern  all 
the  creatures.  In  short,  this  immensity  is  nothing  else 
but  the  infinite  extent  of  his  knowledge  and  his  power, 
and  it  reaches  to  and  beyond  all  places,  as  eternitj^ 
reaches  to  and  beyond  all  time.  This  the  blessed  above 
know  and  rejoice  in,  and  take  infinite  satisfaction  there- 
in :  having  God,  as  it  were  surrounding  them  on  all  sides, 
so  that  they  cannot  be  where  he  is  not,  he  is  ever  pre- 
sent with  his  all-sufficiency  ready  to  bestow  on  them  all 
they  wish  or  desire  while  he  continues  their  God,  i.  e. 
for  ever  and  ever.  They  are  under  the  blessing  of  his 
eye,  and  the  care  of  his  hand,  to  guard  them  from  every 
evil,  and  to  secure  their  peace. 

Let  thy  flesh  or  spirit  be  surrounded  with  ever  so 
many  thousand  dangers  or  enemies,  they  cannot  do  thee 
the  least  damage  without  his  leave  by  force  or  by  sur- 
prise while  such  an  Almighty  .Being  is  all  around  thee  : 
nor  hast  thou  reason  to  indulge  any  fear  while  the  spring 
and  ocean  of  all  life,  activity,  and  blessedness  thus  se- 
cures thee  on  every  side.  If  thou  hast  the  evidences  of 
his  children  on  thee,  thou  possessest  an  eternal  security 
of  thy  peace.  • 

7.  '  The  sovereignty  and  dominion'  of  the  blessed  God 
is  a  further  meditation  and  pleasure  which  becomes  and 
adorns  the  inhabitants  of  the  heavenly  world.  There  he 
reigns  upon  the  throne  of  his  glory,  and  the  greater  part 
of  the  territories  which  are  subject  to  him  are  more  in 
their  view  than  our  scanty  powers  of  nature  or  perception 
can  now  apprehend,  and  a  proportionable  degree  of  plea- 
sure is  found  with  the  saints  above  in  these  contemplations. 

But  in  our  present  state  of  mortality  our  souls  can 
only  look  through  ttofese  lattices  of  flesh  and  blood,  and 
make  a  few  scanty  and  imperfect  inferences  from  what 
they  always  see,  and  hear,  and  feel.  And  yet  the  glori- 
ous sovereignty  and  dominion  of  the  blessed  God  may  so 
penetrate  the  soul  with  a  divine  sense  of  it  here  on  earth, 
as  to  raise  up  a  heaven  of  wonder  and  joy  within. 

T2 


222  THE  FIRST  FRUITS  OF  THE  SPIRIT, 

Adore  him,  0  my  soul,  who  surveys  and  rules  all 
things  which  he  has  made  with  an  absolute  authority,  and 
is  for  ever  uncontroulable.  How  righteous  a  thing  is  it 
that  he  should  give  laws  to  all  the  beings  which  his  hand 
hath  formed,  which  his  breath  hath  spoken  into  life,  and 
especially  that  rank  Avhich  his  favour  hath  furnished  with 
immortality?  How  just  that  he  should  be  obeyed  by 
every  creature  without  the  least  reluctance  or  reserve, 
without  a  moment's  delay,  and  that  to  all  the  length  of 
their  existence  ? 

Submit  to  his  government  with  pleasure,  0  my  nature, 
and  be  all  ye  my  powers  of  soul  and  body  in  everlasting 
readiness  to  do  whatsoever  he  requires,  and  to  be  what- 
soever he  appoints.  Wilt  thou  have  me,  0  Lord,  lie  under 
sickness  or  pain,  wilt  thou  have  me  languish  under  weak- 
ness and  confinement  ?  I  am  at  thy  foot,  I  am  for  ever  at 
thy  disposal.     Wilt  thou  have  me  active  and  vigorous  in 
thy  service  ?  Lord,  I  am  ready  with  utmost  cheerfulness. 
Wilt  thou  confine  me  to  painful  idleness  and  long  patience  ? 
Lord  here  I  am,  do  with  me  what  seemeth  good  unto  thee, 
I  am  ready  to  serve  thy  purposes  here,  or  thy  orders  in 
the  unkno\vn  world  of  spirits,  when  thou   shalt  dissolve 
this  mortal  frame  :  I  lay  down  these  limbs  in  the  dust  of 
death  at  thy  command  :   I  venture  into  the  regions  of 
angels  and  unbodied  minds  at  thy  summons.      I  will  be 
what  thou  wilt,  I  will   go  -when  thou  wilt,  I  will  dwell 
where  thou  wilt,  for  thou  art  always  with  me,  and  I  am 
entirely  thine.  I  both  rejoice  and  tremble  at  thy  sovereign- 
ty and  dominion  over  all.      God   cannot  do  injury  to  a 
creature  who  is   so  entirely  his  own   property ;  God  will 
not  deal  unkindly  with  a  creature  who  is  so  sensible  of 
his  just  dominion  and  supremacy,  and  which  bows  at  the 
foot  of  his  sovereignty  with  so  much  relish  of  satisfaction. 
8.  Let  us  next  take  notice  of  the  perfect  purity  of  the 
nature  of  God,  his  universal  holiness,  the  rectitude  of 
the  divine  nature  manifested  in  all  his  thoughts,  his  works, 
and  his  words,  all  perfectly  agreeable  to  the  eternal  rules 
of  truth  and  righteousness,  and  at  the  furthest  distance 
from  every  thing  that  is  false  and  faulty,  every  thing  that 
is  or  can  be  dishonourable  *o  so  glorious  a  Being.     Have 
we  never  seen  God  in  this  light,  in  the  glory  of  his  holi- 
ness, his  universal  rectitude,  and  the  everlasting  harmony 
of  all  his  perfections  in  exact  correspondence  with  all  the 


OR  THE  FORETASTE  OP  HEAVEN.  223 

notions  we  can  have  of  truth  and  reason  ?  And  has  not 
God  appeared  then  as  a  glorious  and  lovely  Being?  And 
have  we  not  at  the  same  time  beheld  ourselves  as  unclean, 
and  unholy  creatures,  in  one  part  or  other  of  our  natures, 
ever  ready  to  jar  or  fall  out  with  some  of  the  most  pure 
and  perfect  rules  of  holiness,  justice  or  truth?  Have  we 
not  seen  all  our  sins  and  iniquities  in  this  light,  with  ut- 
most abhorrence  and  highest  hatred  of  them,  and  looked 
down  upon  ourselves  with  a  'deep  and  overwhelming  sense 
of  shame  and  displicence  against  our  depraved  and  cor- 
rupted natures,  and  abased  ourselves  as  Job  does,  in  dust 
and  ashes,  and  not  daring  to  open  our  mouths  before  him  ? 
Job  xlii.  6.  "I  have  heard  or  thee  by  the  hearing  of  the 
ear,  but  now  mine  eye  seeth  thee,  and  I  abhor  myself  in 
dust  and  ashes."  The  least  spot  or  blemish  of  sin  grows 
highly  offensive  and  painful  to  the  eyes  of  a  saint  in  this 
situation. 

"Every  little  warping  from  truth  in  our  conversation, 
every  degree  of  insincerity  or  fraud  becomes  a  smarting 
uneasiness  to  the  mind  in  the  remembrance  of  our  past 
follies  in  the  present  state.  There  is  the  highest  abhor- 
rence of  sin  among  all  the  heavenly  inhabitants,  and  this 
sight  of  God  in  the  beauties  of  his  holiness,  and  his  per- 
fect rectitude,  is  an  everlasting  preservative  to  holy  souls 
against  the  admission  of  an  impure  or  unholy  thought. 
And  therefore  some  divines  have  supposed,  that  the  angels 
at  their  first  creation  were  put  into  a  state  of  trial  before 
they  were  admitted  to  this  full  sight  of  the  beauty  of  God 
in  his  holiness,  which  would  have  secured  them  from  the 
least  thought  or  step  towards  apostacy. 

0  my  soul,  of  what  happy  importance  it  is  to  thee  to 
maintain,  as  long  as  possfble,  this  sense  of  the  purity ', 
rectitude  and  perfection  of  the  nature  of  the  blessed  God, 
"who  is  of  purer  eyes  than  to  behold  iniquity,"  with  the 
least  regard  of  approbation  or  allowance?  And  what  in- 
finite condescension  is  it  in  such  a  God  to  find  out  and  ap- 
point a  way  of  grace,  whereby  such  shameful  polluted 
creatures  as  we  are  should  ever  be  admitted  into  his  pre- 
sence to  make  the  least  address  to  his  majesty,  or  to  hope 
for  his  favour  ? 

Besides,  in  this  sublime  view  of  the  holiness  of  God, 
we  shall  not  only  love  God  better  than  ever,  as  we  see 
him  more  amiable  under  this  view  of  his  glorious  attributes, 

« 


224  THE  FIRST  FRUITS  OF  THE  SPIRIT, 

but  we  shall  grow  more  sincere  and  fervent  in  our  love  to 
all  that  is  holy,  to  every  fellow  Christian,  to 'every  saint 
in  heaven  and  on  earth  :  we  shall  not  bear  any  estranged- 
ness  or  alienation  from  those  who  have  so  much  of  the 
likeness  of  God  in  them.  They  will  ever  appear  to  be  the 
"excellent  of  the  earth,  in  whom  is  all  our  delight:"  their 
supposed  blemishes  will  vanish  at  the  thought  of  their 
likeness  to  God  in  holiness :  and  especially  our  blessed 
Lord  Jesus,  the  Son  of  God,  will  be  most  precious  and 
all-glorious  in  our  eyes  as  he  is  the  most  perfect  image  of 
his  Father's  holiness.  There  is  nothing  in  the  blessed  God, 
but  the  man  Christ  Jesus  bears  a  proportionable  resem- 
blancs  to  it,  as  far  as  a  creature  can  resemble  God^*  and 
he  will  consequently  be  highest  in  o,ur  esteem  under  God 
the  Lord  and  Father  of  all. 

9.  The  ever-pleasing  attribute  of  divine  'goodness  and 
love'  is  another  .endless  and  joyful  theme  or  object  of  the 
contemplation  of  the  heavenly  world.  There  this  perfec- 
tion shines  in  its  brightest  rays,  there  it  displays  its  most 
triumphant  glories,  and  kindles  a  flame  of  everlasting  joy 
in  all  the  sons  of  blessedness. 

But  we  in  this  world  may  have  such  glimpses  of  this 
goodness  and  love  as  may  fill  the  soul  with  unspeakable 
pleasure,  and  begin  in  it  the  first  fruits  and  earnest  of 
heaven.  When  we  survey  the  inexhaustible  ocean  of 
goodness  which  is  in  God,  which  fills  and  supplies  all  the 
creatures  with  every  thing  they  stand  in  need  of;  when 
we  behold  all  the  tribes  of  the  sons  of  men  supported  by 
his  boundless  sufficiency,  his  bounty  and  kind  providence, 
and  refreshed  with  a  thousand  comforts  beyond  what  the 
mere  necessities  of  nature  require  :  in  such  an  hour  if  we 
feel  the  least  fiowings  of  goodness  in  ourselves  towards 
others,  we  shall  humble  ourselves  to  the  dust,  and  cry  out 
in  holy  amazement,  Lord,  what  is  an  atom  to  a  mountain  ? 
what  is  a  drop  to  a  river,  a  sea  of  beneficence  ?  what  is  a 
shadow  to  the  eternal  substance  ?  what  good  tiling  is  there 
in  time  or  in  eternity,  which  I  can  possibly  want  which 

*  If  the  "  man  Christ  Jesus"  could  be  viewed  either  by  saints  above,  or 
saints  on  earth,  as  separate  from  the  Divine  Person  of  the  eternal  Son,  he 
would  be  shorn  of  the  brightest  rays  of  his  glory.  God  forbid,  that  our 
meditations  should  ever  terminate  in  his  human  nature,  or  that  we  should 
conceive  so  meanly  of  the  Son  of  God,  as  to  regard  him  as  merely  a  crea- 
ture !— ED. 


OR  THE  FORETASTE  OF  HEAVEN.  225 

is  not  abundantly  supplied  out  of  thine  overflowing  ful- 
ness? -Hence  arises  the  eternal  satisfaction  of  all  the  holy 
and  happy  creation  in  being  so  near  to  thee,  and  under 
the  everlasting  assurances  of  thy  love.  I  can  do  nothing 
but  fall  down  before  thee  in  deepest  humility,  and  admire, 
adore,  and  everlastingly  love  thee,  who  hast  assumed  to 
thyself  the  name  of  love,  1  John  iv.  8,  "God  is  love." 

§  IV.  Thus  far  our  joys  may  rise  into  an  imitation  of 
the  joys  above,  in  the  devout  'contemplation  of  divine 
perfections.' 

And  not  only  the  'perfections  pf  God'  considered  and 
surveyed  singly  in  themselves,  but  the  union  and  blessed 
harmony  of  many  of  them  in  the  divine  works  and  trans- 
actions of  Providence  and  of  grace,  especially  in  the  gospel 
of  Christ,  administer  further  matter  for  contemplation  and 
pleasure  among  the  happy  spirits  in  heaven :  and  so  far 
as  this  enjoyment  may  be  communicated  to  the  saints  here 
on  earth,  they  may  be  also  said  to  have  a  foretaste  of  the 
business  an/1  pleasure  of  heaven.  Let  us  take  notice  of 
this  harmony  in  several  instances. 

1.  In  the  sacred  constitution  of  the  person  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  as  God  and  man  united  in  one  personal  agent: 
here  majesty  and  mercy  give  a  glorious  instance  of  their 
union,  here  all  the  grandeur  and  dignity  of  Godhead  con- 
descends to  join  itself  in  union  with  a  creature,  such  as 
man  is,  a  spirit  dwelling  in  flesh  and  blood.  1  Tim.  ii.  5. 
"There  is  one  God,  and  one  Mediator  between  God  and 
men,  even  the  man  Christ  Jesus."  But  this  man  is  per- 
sonally united  to  the  blessed  God,  he  is  "God  manifested 
in  the  flesh."  He  is  a  man.  in  "whom  dwells  all  the  ful- 
ness of  the  Godhead  bodily,"  to  constitute  one  all-sufficient 
Saviour  of  miserable  and  fallen  mankind.  What  an  amazing 
stoop  or  condescension  is  this  for  the  eternal  Godhead  thus 
to  join  itself  to  a  creature,  and  what  ^surprising  exaltation 
is  this  of  the  creature,  for  the  man  Christ  Jesus  thus  to  be 
assumed  into  so  near  a  relation  to  the  blessed  God  ?  All 
the  glories  that  result  from  this  divine  contrivance  and 
transaction  are  not  to  be  enumerated  on  paper,  nor  by  the 
best  capacity  of  writers  here  on  earth  :  the  heavenly  in- 
habitants are  much  better  acquainted  with  them. 

Again,  here  is  an  example  of  the  harmony  and  co-opera- 
tion of  unsearchable  wisdom  and  all-commanding  power 
in  the  person  of  the  blessed  Jesus  ;  and  what  a  happy 
29 


226  THE  FIRST  FRUITS  OF  THE  SPIRIT, 

design  is  hereby  executed,  namely,  the  reconciliation  of 
sinful  man  and  the  holy  and  glorious  God  :  and  who  could 
do  this  but  one  who  was  possessed  of  such  wisdom  and 
such  power?  When  there  was  no  creature  in  heaven  or 
earth  sufficient  for  this  work,  God  was  pleased  to  appoint 
such  an  union  between  a  creature  and  Creator,  between 
God  and  man,  as  might  answer  all  the  inconceivable  pur- 
poses concealed  in  his  thought.  If  there  be  wanting  a 
person  fit  to  execute  any  of  his  infinite  designs,  he  will 
not  he  frustrated  for  want  of  an  agent,  he  will  appoint  God 
and  man  to  be  so  ueudy  united  as  to  become  one  agent  to 
execute  this  design. 

2:  'In  the  manner  of  our  salvation,'  (viz.)  by  an  'atone- 
ment for  sin.'  The  great  God  did  not  think  it  proper, 
nor  agreeable  to  his  sublime  holiness,  to  receive  sinful 
man  into  his  favour  without  an  atonement  for  sin,  and  a 
satisfaction  mndp.  to  the  Governor  of  the  world  for  the 
abuse  and  violation  of  his  holy  law  here  on  earth ;  and 
therefore  he  appointed  such  a  sacrifice  of  atonement  as 
might  be  sufficient  to  do  complete  honour  to  the  law-giver, 
as  well  as  to  save  and  deliver  the  offender  from  death. 
Therefore,  Jesus  was  made  a  man  capable  of  suffering  and 
dying,  that  he  might  honour  the  majesty  and  the  justice  of 
the  broken  law  of  God,  and  that  he  might  do  it  complete- 
ly by  the  union  of  Godhead  to  this  man  and  Mediator;* 
the  dignity  of  whose  divinity  diffuses  itself  over  all  that 
he  did  and  all  that  he  suffered,  so  as  to  make  his  obedience 
completely  acceptable  to  God  instead  of  thousands  of 
creatures,  and  fully  satisfactory  for  the  offence  that  was 
given  him  by  them  ;  here  is  a  sacrifice  provided  equal  to 
the  guilt  of  sin,  and  therefore  sufficient  to  take  it  away. 

You  see  here  what  a  blessed  harmony  there  is  between 
the  justice  of  God  doing  honour  to  his  own  law,  and  his 
compassion  resolved  to  save  a  ruined  creature.  Here  is 
no  blemish  cast  upon  the  strict  justice  and  righteousness 
of  God,  when  the  offender  is  forgiven  in  such  a  method  as 
may  do  honour  to  justice  and  mercy  at  once.  Rom.  iii. 
24,  25,  "We  are  justified  freely  by  his  grace  through  the 

*  It  is  by  the  union  of  the  two,  natures  that  the  Lord  Jesus  is  a  proper 
Mediator.  Jt  is  incorrect  to  say  that  the  "Godhead"  was  united  "to  this 
man  and  Mediator."  It  was  the  Son,  or  Word,  not  the  Godhead,  that 
"  became  flesh ;"  and  thus  humbling  himself,  gave  himself  for  us,  the  Just 
for  the  unjust,  that  he  might  bring  us  to  God. — ED. 


OR  THE  FORETASTE  OF  HEAVEN.'  227 

redemption  that  is  in 'Jesus  Christ;  whom  God  hath  set 
forth  to  be  a  propitiation  through  faith  in  his  blood,  to 
declare  his  righteousness,"  even  his  perfect  governing 
justice,  though  he  passes  by  and  pardons  the  sins  of  a 
thousand  criminal  creatures;  <to  declare,' I  say, 'at  this 
time  his  righteousness,  that  he  might  appear*  to  be  just' 
to  his  6wn  authority  and  law,  while  he  justifies  the  sinful 
man  who  believeth  or  trusteth  in  Jesus  the  Mediator  as 
becoming  a  proper  sacrifice  and  propitiation  for  sin. 

3.  By  the  'saqctification  of  our  nature.'  There  is  also 
another  remarkable  harmony  between  the  holiness  of  God 
and  his  mercy  in  this  work  of  the  salvation  of  sinful  man. 
The  guilt  of  sin  is  not  only  to  be  forgiven  and  taken  away 
by  a  complete  atonrcment  and  sacrifice,  but  the  sinful  na- 
ture of  this  ruined  creature  is  to  be  changed  into  holiness, 
is  to  be  renewed  and  sanctified  by  the  blessed  Spirit,  and 
reformed  into  the  image  of  God  his  Maker.  He  must  not 
only  be  released  from  punishment  by  forgiveness,  but  he 
must  be  restored  to  the  image  of  God  by  sanctifying  grace  ; 
that  so  he  may  be  fit  company  for  the  rest  of  the  favourites 
of  God  in  the  upper  world  ;  that  he  may  be  qualified  to  be 
admitted  into  this  society,  where  perfect  purity  and  holn 
ness  are  necessary  for  all  the  inhabitants  of  this  upper 
world,  and  for  such  near  attendants  on  the -blessed  God. 
In  that  happy  state  nothing  shall  enter  there  that  defileth, 
Rev.  xxi.  27,  and  therefore  concerning  the  criminals 
amongst  the  Corinthians,  as  vile  and  as  offensive  to  the 
pure  and  holy  God  as  they  are  represented,  1  Cor.  vi.  9 — 
11,  viz.  "Fornicators,  idolaters,  adulterers,  drunkards,  &c. 
but,  it  is  said,  they  are  washed,  but  they  are  sanctified, 
but  they  are  justified  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus^  and 
by  the  Spirit  of  our  God." 

Now  when  the  souls  of  the  saints  here  on  earth  are 
raised  to  such  .divine  contemplations,  what  transporting 
satisfaction  and  delight  must  arise  from  the  surprising 
'union  and  harmony'  of  the  attributes  of  the  blessed  God 
in  these  his  transactions?  And  especially  when  the  soul 
in  the  lively  exercise  of  grace  and  view  of  its  own  pardon, 
justification,  and  restored  holiness,  looks  upon  itself  as  one 
of  these  happy  favourites  of  the  majesty  of  heaven;  it 

•  The  Scripture  says,  not  that  "  he  might  appear  to  be ;"  but  that  "  h« 
might  be  just"  God's  actionu  are  dot  thow ;  they  are  realitie*. — ED. 


223  THE  FIRST  FRUITS  OF  THE  SPIRIT, 

cries  out  as  it  were  in  holy  amazement,  'What  a  divine 
profusion  is  here  of  wisdom  and  power,  glory  and  grace, 
to  save  a  wretched  worm  from  everlasting  burnings,  and 
to  advance  a  worthless  rebel  to  such  undeserved  and  ex- 
alte.d 'glories  !' 

§  V.  'The  wonders  of  divine  perfections  united  in  the 
success  of  the  gospel,'  give  an  ecstasy  of  joy  sometimes  to 
holy  souls.  Not  only  do  these  views  of  the  united  per- 
fections of  God,  as  they  are  concerned  in  the  contrivance 
of  the  gospel,  entertain  the  saints  above  with  new  and 
pleasurable  contemplations,  but  the  wonders  of  divine 
wisdom,  power  and  grace,  united  and  harmonizing  in 
'the  propagation  and  success  of  the  gospel,'  become  a 
matter  of  delightful  attention  and  survey  to  the  saints  on 
high. 

This  is  imitated  also  in  a  measure  by  the  children  of 
God  here  on  earth.  Have  you  never  felt  such  a  surprising 
pleasure  in  the  view  of  the  attributes  of  God,  his  grace, 
wisdom,  and  power  in  making  these  divine  designs  so 
happily  efficacious  for  the  good  of  thousands  of  souls  ?  If 
there  "be  joy  in  heaven  among  the  angels  of  God"  at  the 
conversion  "of  a  sinner,"  what  perpetual  messages  of  un- 
known satisfaction  and  delight  did  the  daily  and  constant 
labours  of  the  blessed  Apostle  Paul  send  to  the  upper 
world  ?  What  perpetual  tidings  were  carried  to  the  worlds 
on  high  of  such  and  such  souls,  converted  un.to  God  from 
gross  idolatry,  from  the  worship  of  dumb  iuojs,  from  the 
vain  superstition  of  their  heroes  and  mediator-gods,  and 
from  the  impure  and  bloody  sacrifices  of  their  own  coun- 
trymen, whereby  they  intended  to  satisfy  their  gods  for 
their  own  iniquities,  and  to  reconcile  themselves  to  these 
invented  gods,  these  demons  or  devils  which  were  deified 
by  the  folly  and  madness  of  sinful  men  ?  What  new  hal- 
lelujahs must  it  put  into  the  mouths  of  the  saints  and  an- 
fels  on  high,  to  see  the  true  and  living  God  worshipped 
y  thousands  that  had  never  before  known  him,  and  to  see 
Jesus  the  Mediator  in  all  the  glories  of  his  divine  offices 
admired  and  adored  by  those  who  lately  had  either  known 
nothing  of  him,  or  been  shameful  revilers  and  blasphemers 
of  his  majesty. 

And  what  an  unknown  delight  is  diffused  through  many 
of  the  saints  of  God  now  here  on  earth  upon  such  tidings, 
not  only  from  the  foreign  and  heathen  countries,  but  even. 


OR  THE  FORETASTE  OF  HEAVEN.  229 

some  that  have  professed  Christianity,  but  under  gross 
mistakes  and  miserable  fogs  of  darkness  and  superstition? 
What  an  unconceivable  and  overwhelming  pleasure  has 
surprised  a  Christian  sometimes  in  the  midst  of  his  zealous 
worship  of  God  and  his  Saviour,  to  hear  of  such  tidings 
of  new  subjects  in  multitudes  submitting  themselves  to 
their  divine  dominion? 

And  even  in  our  day,  whensoever  we  hear  of  the  work 
of  grace  begun  by  the  ministry  of  the  word  awakening  a 
drowsy  and  lethargic  soul  from  its  dangerous  sleep  on  the 
brink  of  hell,  rousing  a  negligent  and  slothful  creature 
from  his  indolence  and  carelessness  about  the  things  of 
eternity ;  or  again,  in  making  a  heart  soft  and  impressive 
to  the  powers  of  divine  grace,  \vhich  was  before  hard  as 
the  nether  millstone  j  and  especially  when  multitudes  of 
these,  tidings  come  together  from  distant  places,  as  of  late 
we  have  heard  from  New  England,  and  several  of  those 
plantations,  from  Scotland,  and  several  of  her  assemblies, 
what  additional  scenes  of  heavenly  joy  and  pleasure  have 
been  raised  amongst  the  pious  souls,  both  those  who  relate 
and  those  who  hear  them. 

§  VI.  Foretastes  of  heaven  are  sometimes  derived  from 
<the  overflowing  sense  of  the  love  of  God'  let  in  upon  the 
soul. 

The  spirits  above  who  are  surrounded  with  this  blessed- 
ness and  this  love<5  and  rejoice  in  the  everlasting  assurance 
of  it,  cannot  but  be  filled  with  intense  joy.  What  can  be 
a  greater  foundation  of  complete  blessedness  and  delight 
than  the  immediate  sensation  and  assurance  of  being  be- 
loved by  the  glorious,  and  supreme,  and  the  all-sufficient 
Being,  who  will  never  suffer  his  favourites  to  want  any 
thing  he  can  bestow  upon  them  to  make  them  happy  in 
perfection,  and  for  ever  ?  All  creatures  are  under  his  pre- 
sent view  and  immediate  command  ;  there  is  not  the  least 
of  them  can  give  disturbance  to  any  of  the  favourites  of 
heaven,  who  dwell  in  'the  midst  of  their  Creator's  love ; 
nor  is  there  any  creature  that  can  be  employed  towards 
the  complete  happiness  of  the  saints  on  high,  but  is  for 
ever  under  the  disposal  of  that  God  who  has  made  all 
things,  and  it  shall  be  employed  upon  every  just  occasion 
for  the  display  of  his  love  to  his  saints. 

Some  have  imagined,  that  that  'perfect  satisfaction  of 
soul  which  arises  from  a  good  conscience,  speaking  peace 


230  THE  FIRST  FRUITS  OF  THE  SPIRIT, 

inwardly  in  the  survey  of  its  sincere  desire  to  please  God 
in  all  things,  and  having  with  uprightness  of  heart  fulfilled 
its  duty,'  is  the  supreme  delight  of  heaven.  But  it  is  my 
opinion  God  has  never  made  the  felicity  of  his  creatures 
to  be  drawn  so  entirely. out  of  themselves,  or  from  the 
spring  of  their  own  bosom,  as  this  notion  seems  to  imply. 
God  himself  will  be  all  in  all  to  his  creatures;  and. all 
their  original  springs  of  blessedness  as  well  as  being  are 
in  him,  and  must  be  derived  from  him.  It  is  therefore 
the  overflowing  sense  of  being  beloved  by  a  God  almighty 
and  eternal,  that  is  the  supreme  fountain  of  joy  and  bless- 
edness in  every  reasonable  nature,  and  the  endless  security 
of  this  happiness  is  joy  everlasting  in  all  the  regions  of  the 
blessed  above. 

Now  a  taste  of  this  kind  is  heavenly  blessedness  even 
on  this  earth,  where  God  is  pleased  to  bestow  it  on  his 
creatures  ;  and  the  glimpses  of  it  bring  such  ecstaciesinto 
the  soul  as  can  hardly  be  conceived,  or  revealed  to  others, 
but  it  is  best  felt  by  them  who  enjoy  it. 

§  VII.   'Foretastes  of  heaven  in  the  fervent  emotions  of 
soul  in  love  to  Jesus  Christ.' 

What  the  love  and  strong  affections  of  the  blessed  saints 
above  towards  Jesus  Christ  their  Lord  and  Saviour  may 
impress  of  joy  on  their  spirits,  is  not  possible  for  us  to 
learn  in  the  present  state  ;  but  there  are  some  who  have 
even  here  on  earth  felt  such  transcendent  affections  to 
Jesus  the  Son  of  God ;  even  though  they  have  never 
enjoyed  the  sight  of  him,  yet  they  love  him  with  most 
intense  and  ardent  zeal ;  their  devotion  almost  swallows 
them  up  and  carries  them  away  captive  above  al.1  earthly 
things,  and  brings  them  near'to  the  heavenly  world.  There 
is  an  unknown  joy  which  arises  from  such  intense  love  to 
an  object  so  lovely  and  so  deserving  ;  such  is  that  which 
is  spoken  concerning  the  saints  to  whom  St.  Peter  wrote, 
1  Pet.  i.  8,  "Whom  having  not  seen,  ye  love,  in  whom 
though  now  ye  see  rfim  not,  yet  believing  ye  rejoice  with 
joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory."  It  is  through  this  di- 
vine taste  of  love,  and  joy,  and  glory  communicated  by 
the  blessed  Spirit,  revealing  the  things  of  Christ  to  their 
souls,  that  many  of  the  confessors  and  martyrs  in  the  pri- 
mitive ages  and  in  latter  times,  have  not  only  joyfully 
parted  with  all  their  possessions  and  their  comforts  in  this 
life,  but  have  followed  the  call  of  God  through  prisons 


OR  THE  FORETASTE  OF  HEAVEN.        231 

and  deaths  of  a  most  dreadful  kind  ;  through  racks,  and 
fires,  and  many  torments  for  the  sake  of  the  love  of  Jesus. 
And  perhaps  there  may  be  some  in  our  day  who  have  had 
so  lively  and  strong  a  sensation  of  the  love  of  Christ  let 
in  upon  their  souls,  that  they  could  not  only  be  content  to 
be  absent  from  all  their  carnal  delights  for  ever,  but  even 
from  their  intellectual  and  more  spiritual  entertainments, 
if  they  might  be  for  ever  placed  in  such  a  situation  to 
Jesus-  Christ,  as  to  feel  the  everlasting  beams  of  his  love 
let  out  upon  them,  and  to  rejoice  in  him  with  perpetual 
delight  As  he  is  the  nearest  image  of  God  the  Father, 
they  can  love  nothing  beneath  God  equal  to  their  love  of 
him,  nor  delight  in  anything  beneath  God  equal  to  their  de- 
light in  Jesus  Christ.  Indeed  their  love  and  their  joy  are  so 
wrapped  up  in  the  great  and  blessed  GoJ  as  he  appears  in 
Christ  Jesus,  that  they  do  not  usually  divide  their  affections 
in  this  matter,  but  love  God  supremely  for  ever,  as  revea- 
ling himself  in  his  most  perfect  love  in  Christ  Jesus  unto 
their  souls.  How  near  this  may  approach  to  the  glorified 
love  of  the  saints  in  heaven,  or  what  difference  there  is 
between  the  holy  ones  above  and  the  saints  below  in  this 
respect,  may  be  hard  to  say. 

§  VIII.  'Foretastes  of  heaven  in  the  transcendent  love 
of  the  saints  to  each  other.'  I  might  here  ask  some  ad- 
vanced saints, 

Have  you  never  seen  or  heard  of  a  fellow  Christian 
growing  into  such  a  near  resemblance  to  the  blessed  Jesus, 
in  all  the  virtues  and  graces  of  the  Spirit,  that  you  would 
willingly  part  with  all  the  attainments  and  honours  that 
you  have  already  arrived'  at,  which  make  .you  never  so 
eminent  in  the  world  or  the  church,  as  to  be  made  so  near 
a  conformist  to  the  image  of  the  blessed  Jesus  as  this  fel- 
low Christian  has  seemed  to  be  ? 

Have  you  never  seen  or  read  of  the  glories  and  graces 
of  the  Son  of  God  exemplified  in  some  of  the  saints  in  so 
high  a  degree,  and  at  the  same  time  been  so  divested  of 
self,  and  so  mortified  to  a  narrow  selflove,  as  to  be  satis- 
fied with  the  lowest  and  the  meanest  supports  of  life,  and 
the  meanest  station  in  the  church  of  Christ  here  on  earth, 
if  you  might  hut  be  favoured  to  partake  of  that  trans- 
cen^ent  likeness  to  the  holy  Jesus,  as  you  would  fain  imi- 
tate and  possess  ? 

Have  you  never  had  a  view  of  all  the  virtues  and  gra- 


232  THE  FIRST  FRUITS  OF  THE  SPIRIT,  &C. 

ces  of  the  saints,  derived  from  one  eternal  fountain,  the 
blessed  God,  and  flowing  through  the  mediation  of  Jesus 
his  Son,  in  so  glorious  a  manner,  that  you  have  longed  for 
the  day  when  you  shall  be  among  them,  and  receive  your 
share  of  this  blessedness  ?  Have  you  never  found  your- 
self so  united  to  them  in  one  heart  and  one  soul,  that  you 
have  wished  them  all  the  .same  blessings  that  you  wished 
to  yourself,  and  that  without  the  least  shadow  of  grudging 
or  envy,  if  every  one  of  them  were  partaker  as  much  as 
you  ?  There  is  no  envy  among  the  heavenly  inhabitants ; 
nor  doth  St.  Paul  receive  the  less  because  Cephas  or  Apol- 
los  has  a  large  share.  Every  vessel  has  its  capacity  en- 
larged to  a  proper  extent  by  the  Gotl  of  nature  and  grace, 
and  every  vessel  is  completely  filled,  and  feels  itself  for 
ever  full  and  for  ever  happy.  Then,  there  cannot  be  found 
the  shadow  of  envy  amongst  the"m. 

Now,  to  sum  up  the  view  of  these  things  in  short;  who 
is  there  that  enjoys  these  blessed  evidences  of  an  interest 
in  the  inheritance  on  high,  who  is  there  that  has  any  such 
foretastes  of  the  felicity  above,  but  must  join  with  the 
whole  creation  in  groaning  for  that  great  day,  when  all 
the  children  of  God  shall  appear  in  the  splendor  of  their 
adoption,  and  every  thing  in  nature  and  grace  among  them 
shall  attain  the  proper  end  for  which  it  was  at  first  design- 
ed? Arid  whensoever  any  such  Christian  hears  some  of 
the  last  words  in  the  Bible  pronounced  by  our  Lord  Jesus, 
"Surely  I  come  quickly,"  he  must  immediately  join  the 
universal  echo  of  the  saints  with  unspeakable  delight, 
"even  so  come,  0  Lord  Jesus." 


DISCOURSE    XI. 


SAFETY  IN  THE  GRAVE,  AND  JOY  AT  TflE  RESURRECTION. 

JOB.  xiv.  13,  14,  16.  O  that  thou  wouldst  hide  me  in  the  grave,  that 
thou  wouldst  keep  me  in  secret  until  thy  wrath  be  past,  that  thou  wouldst 
appoint  me  a  set  time  and  remember  me  !  If  a  man  die  shall  he  live  again  1 
All  the  days  of  my  appointed  time  will  I  wait  till  my  change  come.  Thou 
shalt  call  and  I  will  answer  then":  thou  wilt  have  a  desire  to  the  work  of 
thy  hands. 

BEFORE  we  attempt  to  make  any  improvement  of  these 
words  of  Job  for  our  present  edification,  it  is  necessary 
that  we  search  out  the  true  meaning  of  them.  There  are 
two  general  senses  of  these  three  verses,  which  are  given 
by  some  of  the  most  considerable  interpreters  of  Scripture, 
and  they  are  exceedingly  different  from  each  other. 

The  first  is  this.  Some  suppose  Job  under  the  extremity 
of  his  anguish  to  long  after  death  here,  as  he  does  in  some 
other  parts  of  this  book,  and  to  desire  that  God  would  cut 
him  off  from  the  land  of  the  living,  and  "hide  him  in  the 
grave,"  or,  at  least,,  take  him  away  from  the  present  stage 
of  action,  and  conceal  him  in  some  retired  and  solitary 
place,  dark  as  the  grave  is,  till  all  the  days  which  might 
be  designed  for  his  pain  and  sorrow  were  finished  :  and 
that  God  would  '-appoint  him  a  time"  for  his  restoration 
to  health  and  happiness  again  in  this  world,  and  raise  him 
to  the  possession  of  it,  'by  calling  him  out  of  that  dark 
and  solitary  place  of  retreat;  and  then  Job  would  answer 
him,  and  appear  with  pleasure  at  such  a  call  of  Providence. 

Others  give  this  sense  of  the  words,  that  though  the 
pressing  and  overwhelming  sorrows  of  this  good  man 
constrained  him  to  long  for  death,  antl  he  entreated  of  God 
that  he  might  be  sent  to  the  "grave  as  a  hiding-place," 
and  thus  be  delivered  from  his  present  calamities,  yet  he 
had  some  divine  glimpse  of  a  resurrection  or  living  again, 
and  he  hopes  for  the  happiness  of  a  future  state  when  God 
should  call  him  out  of  the  grave.  He  knew  that  the  bles- 
sed God  would  have  'a  desire  to'  restore  Hhe  work  of 
30  u2  233 


234  SAFETY  IN  THE   GRAVE, 

his  own  hands'  to  life  again,  end  Job  would  'answer  the 
call'  of  his  God  into  a  resurrection  with  holy  pleasure 
and  joy. 

Now  there  are  four  or  five  reasons  which  incline  me 
to  prefer  this  latter  sense  of  the  words,  and  to  shew  that 
the  comforts  and  hope  which  Job  aspires  to  iu  this  place, 
are  only  to  be  derived  from  a  resurrection  to  final  happiness. 

1.  The  express  words  of  the  text  are,  "0  that  thou 
wouldst  hide  me  in  the  grave!"  Not  in  a  darksome  place 
like  the  grave ;  and  where  the  literal  sense  of  the  words 
is  plain  and  agreeable  to  the  context,  there  is  no  need  of 
making   metaphors  to  explain  them.     There  is  nothing 
that  can  encourage  us  to  suppose  that  Job  had  any  hope  of 
happiness  in  this  world  again,  after  he  was  gone  down  to 
the  grave,  and  therefore  he  would  not  make  so  unreason- 
able a  petition  to  the  great  God.     This  seems  to  be  too 
foolish  and  too  hopeless  a  request  for  us  to  put  into 'the 
mouth  of  so  wise  and  good  a  man. 

2.  He  seems  to  limit  the  continuance  of  man  in  the  state 
of  death  to  the  duration  of  the  heavens,  ver.  12th,  "man 
lieth  down  and  riseth  not  till  the  heavens  be  no  more." 
Not  absolutely  for  ever  does  Job  desire  to  be  hidden  in 
the  grave,  but  till  the  dissolution  of  all  these  visible  things, 
these  heavens  and  this  earth,  and  the  great  rising-day  for 
the  sons  of  men.  These  words  seem  to  have  a  plain  aspect 
towards  the  resurrection. 

And  especially  when  he  adds,  "they  shall  not  be  wa- 
kened nor  raised  out  of  their  sleep."  The  brutes  when 
dying  are  never  said  to  sleep  in  Scripture,  because  they 
shall  never  rise  again  ;  but  this  is  a  frequent  word  used  to 
signify  the  death  of  man  both  in  the  Old  Testament  and 
in  the  New,  because  he  only  lies  down  in  the  grave  for  a 
season,  as  in  a  bed  of  sleep,  in  order  to  awake  and  arise 
hereafter. 

3.  In  other  places  of  this  book,  Job  gives  us  some  evi- 
dent hints  of  his  hope  of  a  resurrection,  especially  that 
divine  passage  and  prophecy,  when  he  spake  as  one  sur- 
rounded with  a  vision  of  glory,  and  filled  with  the  light 
and  joy  of  faith.  Job  xix.  25,  "I  know  that  my  Redeemer 
liveth,  and  that  he  shall  stand  at  the  latter  day  upon  the 
earth  :  and  though  after  my  skin  worms  destroy  this  body, 
yet  in  my  flesh  shall  I  see  God  ;  whom  I  shall  see  for 
myselfj  and  mine  eyes  shall  behold,  and  not  another,  though 


AND  JOY  AT  THE  RESURRECTION.  235 

my  reins  be  consumed  within  me."  But  in  many  parts 
of  this  book  the  good  man  lets  us  know,  that  he  had  no 
manner  of  hope  of  any  restoration  'to  health  and  peace  in 
this  life.  Job  vii.  6,  7,  8,  "My  days  are  spent  without 
hope :  mine  eye  shall  no  more  see  good  :  the  eye  of  him 
that  hath  seen  me  shall  see  me  no,  more :  thine  eyes  are 
upon  me,  and  I  am  not."  Ver.  21.  "Now  shall  I  sleep 
in  the  dust,  thou  shalt  seek  me  in  the  morning  and  I  shall 
not  be."  Job  xvii.  15.  "Where  is  now  my  hope"?  As  for 
my  hope,  who  shall  see  it?"  He  and  his  hope  seemed  "to 
go  down  to  the  bars  of  the  pit  together,  and  to  rest  in  the 
dust."  And  if  Job  had  no  hope  of  a  restoration  in  this  world, 
then  his  hopes  must  point  to  the  resurrection  of  the  dead. 
4.  If  we  turn  these  verses  here,  as  well  as  that  noble 
passage  in  Job  xix,  "to  the  more  evangelical  sense  of  a  re- 
surrection, the  truths  which  are  contained  in  the  one  and 
the  other,  are  all  supported  by  the  language  of  the  New 
Testament :  and  the  express  words  of  both  these  texts  are 
much  more  naturally  and  easily  applied  to  the  evangelical 
sense,  without  any  strain  and  difficulty. 

The  expressions  in  the  xixth  of  Job,  "I  know  that  my 
Redeemer  liveth,"  &c.  have  been  rescued  by  many  wise 
interpreters  from  that  poor  and  low  sense  which  has  been 
forced  upon  them,  by  those  who  will  not  allow  Job  to  have 
any  prospect  beyond  this  life :  and  it  has  been  made  to 
appear  to  be  a  bright  glimpse  of  .divine  light  •  and  joy,  a 
ray  or  Vision  of  the  sun  of  righteousness  breakirfg  in  be- 
tween the  dark  clouds  of  his  pressing  sorrow.  And, that 
the  words  of  my  text  demand  the  same  sort  of  interpreta- 
tion, will  appear  further  by  these  short  remarks,  and  this 
paraphrase  upon  them. 

Job  had  been  speaking,  ver.  7,  &c.  that  "  there  is  hope 
of  a  tree  when  it  is  cut  down  that  it  will  sprout  again" 
visibly,  and  bring  forth  boughs;  but  when  "man  gives  up 
the  ghost"  he  is  no  more  visible  upon  earth.  "Where  is 
he  ?"  J.ob  does  not  deny  his  future  existence,  but  only 
intimates  that  he  does  not  appear  iri  the  place  where  he 
was  ;  and  in  the  following  verses  he  does  not  say,  a  dying 
man  shall  never  rise,  or  shall  'never  be  awakened  out  of 
his  sleep ;'  but  asserts  that  "he  rises  not  till"  the  dissolu- 
tion of  "these  heavens"  and  these  visible  things:  and  by 
calling  death  a  sleep,  he  supposes  an  awaking  time,  though 
it  may  be  distant  and  far  off. 


236  SAFETY  IN  THE  GRAVE, 

Then  he  proceeds  to  long  for  death,  «0  that  thou  wouldst 
hide  me  in  the  grave  !  that  thou  wouldst  keep  me  secret 
till  thy  wrath  be  past  !"  till  these  times  and  seasons  of 
sorrow  be  ended,  which  seem  to  be  the  effect  of  divine 
wrath  or  anger.  l3ut  then  I  entreat  "thou  wouldst  ap- 
point me  a  set  time"  for  my  tarrying  in  the  grave,  "and 
remember  me"  in  order  to  raise  me  again.  Then  with  a 
sort  of  surprise  of  faith  and  pleasure  he  adds,  "If  a  man 
die  shall  he  live  again?.  Shall  these  dry  bones  live?" 
And  Jie  answers  in  the  language  of  hope ;  "All  the  days 
of  that  appointed  time"  of  thine  "I  will  wait  till  that  glo- 
rious change  shall  come.  Thou  shalt  call"  from  heaven, 
"and  I  will  answer  thee"  from  the  dust  of  death.  I  will 
appear  at  thy  call'and  say,  "Here  am  I.  Thou' wilt  have 
a  desire  to  the  work  of  thy  hands,"  to  raise  me  again  from 
the  dead,  whom  -thou  hast  made  of  clay,  and  fashioned 
into  life.  * 

From  the  words  thus  expounded,  we  may  draw  these 
several  observations,  and  make  a  short  reflection  upon 
each  of  them,  as  we  pass  along. 

Obs.  I.  This  world  is  a  place  wherein  good  men  are 
exposed  to  great  calamities,  and  they  are  ready  to  think 
the  anger  or  wrath  of  God  appears  in  them. 

Obs.  II.  The  grave- is  God's  known  hiding-place-  for 
his  people. 

Obs.  III.  God  has  appointed  a  set  time  in  his  own  coun- 
sels for  "all  his  children  to  continue  in  death. 

Obs.  IV.  The  lively  view  of  a  happy  resurrection,  an4 
a  well-grounded  hope  of  this  blessed  change,  is  a  solid  and 
divine  comfort  to  the  saints  of  God,  under  all  trials  of 
every  kind  both  in  life  and  death. 

Obs.  V.  The  saints  of  God  who  are  resting  in  their  beds 
of  dust,  will  arise  joyfully  at  the  call  of  their  heavenly 
Father. 

Obs.  VI.  God  takes  delight  in-  his  works  of  nature,  but 
much  more  when  they  are  dignified  and  adorned  by  the 
operations  of  divine  grace. 

Obs.  VII.  How  much  are  we  indebted  to  God  for  the  rev- 
elation of  the  New  Testament,  which  teaches  us  to  find  out 
the  blessings  which  are  contained  in  the  Old,  and  to  fetch 
out  the  glories  and  treasures  which  are  concealed  there? 

Let  us  dwell  a  while  upon  each  of  these,  and  endeavour 
to  improve  them  by  a  particular  application. 


AND  JOY  AT  THE  RESURRECTION.  237 

Obs,  I.  'This  world  is  a  place  wherein  good  men  are 
exposed  to  great  calamities,  and  they  are  ready  to  think 
the  anger  or  wrath  of  God  appears  in  them.'  This  mortal 
life  and  this  present-state  of  things,  are  surrounded  with 
crosses  and  disappointments ;  the  loss  of  our  dearest  friends, 
as  well  as  our  own  pains  and  sicknesses,  have  so  much 
anguish  and  misery  attending  them,  that  they  seem  to  be 
the  seasons  of  divine  wrath,  and  they  grieve  and  pain  the 
sp*irit«of  many  a  pious  man,  under  a  sense  -of  the  anger  of 
his  God.  It  must  be  confessed  in. general  that  misery  is 
the  effect  of  sin.  for  sin  and  sorrow  came  into  the  world 
together,  It  .is  granted  also,  that  God  sometimes  afflicts 
his  people  "in  anger,  and  corrects  them  in  his  hot  dis- 
pleasure," when  they  have  sinned  against  him  in  a  re- 
markable manner.  But  this  is  not  always  the  case. 

The,  great  God  was  not  really  angry  with  Job  when  he 
suffered  him  to  fall  into  such  complicated  distresses;  for 
it  is  plain,  that  while  he  delivered  him  up  into  the  hands 
of  Satan  to  be  afflicted,  he  vindicates  and  honours  him  with 
a  divine  testimony  concerning  his  piety.  Job  i.  8,  "There 
is  none  like  Ijim  in*  the  earth,  a  perfect  and  an  upright 
man,  one  that  feareth  God  and  avoideth  evil."  Nor  was 
he  angry  with  his  Son  Jesus  Christ,  when  it  "pleased  the 
Father  to  bruise  him  and  put  him  to  grief,"  when  he 
"made  his  soul  an  offering  for  sin/'  and  he  was  "stricken, 
smitten  of  God  and  afflicted,"  Isai.  liii.  To  these  we  may 
add  Paul,  the  besj  of  the  Apostles,  and  the  greatest  of 
Christians,  who  .was  abundant  in  labours  and  sufferings 
beyond  all  the  rest.  'See  a-  dismal  catalogue  of  his  calami- 
ties^ 2  Cor.  xi.  23,  &c.  What  variety  of  wretchedness, 
what  terrible  persecutions  from  men,'  what  repeated  strokes 
of  distress  came  upon-  him  by  the  providence  of  God, 
which  appeared  like  the  effects  of  divine  wrath  or  anger? 
But  they  were.plainly  designed  for  more  divine  and  blessed 
purposes,  both  with  regard  to  God,  with  regard  to  him- 
self, and  to  all  the  succeeding  ages  of  the  Christian  church. 

God  does  not  always  smite  his  own  people  to  punish 
sin  and  shew  his  anger;  but  these  sufferings  are  often  ap- 
pointed for  the  'trial  of  their  Christian  virtues  and  graces/ 
for  the  exercise  of  their  humility  and  their  patience,  for 
the  proof  of  their  steadfastness  in  religion,  for  the  honour 
of  the  grace  of  God  in  them,  and  for  the  increase  of  their 
own  future  weight  of  glory.  "Blessed  is  the  man  that 


238  SAFETY  IN  THE  GRAVE, 

endures  temptation,  for  when  he  is  tried,  he  shall  receive 
thg  crown  of  life  which  the  Lord  hath  promised  to  them 
that  love  him,"  Jam.  i.  12.  "The  devil  shall  cast  some 
of  you  into  prison,  that  you  may  be  tried,  and  ye  shall 
have  tribulation  ten  days.  Be  thou  faithful  unto  death, 
and  I  will  give  thee  a  crown  of  life,"  Rev.  ii.  10.  "Our 
light  afflictions  which  are  but  for  a  nxoment,  are  working 
for  us  a  far  more  exceeding  ahd  eternal  weight  of  glory," 
2  Cor.  iv.  17. 

However,  upon  the  whole,  this  world  is  a  very  trouble- 
some and  painful  place  to  the  children  of  God.  They  are 
subject  hej*e  to  many  weaknesses  and  sins,  temptations  and 
follies ;  they  are  in  danger  of  new  defilements ;  they  go 
through  many  threatening  perils  and  many  real  sorrows, 
which  either  are  the  effects  of  the  displeasure  of  God,  or, 
at  least,  carry  an  appearance  of  divine  anger  in  them. 
But  there  is  a  time  when  these  shall  be  finished,  and  sor- 
row shall  have  its  last  period  :  there  is  a  time  when'these 
calamities  "will  be  overpast,"  and  shall  return  no  more 
for  ever. 

'Reflection.  Why  then,  0  my  soul,  why  shouldst  thou 
be  so  fond  of  dwelling  in  this  present  world?  Why 
shmildst  thou  be  desirous  'of  a  long  continuance  in  it? 
Hast  thou  never  found  sorrows  and  afflictions  enough 
among' the  scenes  of  life,  to  make  fhee  weary  of  them? 
And  when  sorrow  and  sin  have  joined  together,  have  they 
not  grievously  embittered  this  life  unto  thee?  Wilt  thou 
never  be  weaned  from  these  sensible  scenes  of  flesh  and 
blood?  Hast  thou  such  a  love  to  the  darknesses,  the'de- 
filements,  and  the  uneasinesses  which  are  found  in  such  a 
prison  as  this  is,  a.«  to  make  thee  unwilling  to  depart,  when 
God  shall  call?  Hast  thou  dwelt  so  long  in  this  taberna- 
cle of  clay,  and  dost  thou  not  "groan,  being  burdened?" 
Hast  thou  no  desire  to  a  release  into  that  upper  and  better 
world,  where  sorrows,  sins  and  temptations  have  no  place, 
and  where  there  shall  never  be  the  least  appearance  or 
suspicion  of  the  displeasure  of  thy  God  towards  thee  ? 

'Obs.  II.  'The  grave  is  God's  known  hiding-piace  for 
his  people.'  It  is  his  appointed 'shelter  and  retreat  for  his 
favourites,  when  he  finds  them  overpressed  either  with 
present  dangers  or  calamities,  or  when  he  foresees  huge 
calamities  and  dangers,  like  storms  and  billows,  ready  to 
overtake  them ;  Isa.  Ivii.  .1,  "The  righteous  is  taken  away 


AND  JOY  AT  THE  RESURRECTION.  239 

from  the  evil  to  come. "  God  our  heavenly  Father  be- 
holds this  evil  advancing  forward  through  all  the  present 
smiles  of  nature,  and  all  the  peaceful  circumstances  that 
surround  us.  He  hides  his  children  in' the  grave  from  a 
thousand  sins,  and  sorrows,  and  distresses  of  this  life, 
which  they  foresaw  not :  and  even  When  they  are  actually 
beset  behind  and  before,  scr  that  there  seems  k>  be  no  natu- 
ral way  for  their  escape,  God  calls  them  aside  into  the 
chambers  of  death,  in  the  same  sort  of  language  as  he  uses 
in  another  case,  Isa.  xxvi.  20,  "Come  my  people,  enter 
thou  into  thy  chambers,  and  shut  thy  doors  about  theo» 
hide  thyself  as.  it  were  for  a  little  moment  till  the  indig- 
nation be  overpassed." 

And  yet  perhaps  it  is  possible,  that  this  very  language 
of  the  Lord  in  Isaiah  may  refer  'to  the  grave,  as  God's 
hiding-place,  for  the  verse  before  promises  a  resurrection. 
"Thy  dead  men  shall  live;  together  with  my  dead  body 
shall  they  arise.  Awake  and  sing  ye  that  dwell  in  the 
dust ;  for  th*y  dew  is  as  the*  dew  of  herbs,  and  the  earth 
shall  cast  out  the  dead."  And  if  we  may  suppose  this 
last  verse  to  have  been*  transposed  .by  any  ancient  tran- 
scribers, so  as  to  have  followed  originally  verse  20,  or  21, 
it  is  very  natural  then  to  interpret  the  whole  paragraph 
concerning  death,  as  God's  hiding-pi  See  for  his  people, 
and  their  rising  again  through  the  virtue  of  the  resurrec- 
tion of  Christ  as  their  joyful  release. 

Many  a  time  God  is  pleased  to  shorten  the  labours, 
and  travels  and  fatigues  of  gpod  men  in  this  wilderness, 
and  he  opens  a  door  of  rest  to  them  where  he  pleases,  and 
perhaps  surprises  them  into  a  state  of  safety  and  peace, 
"where  the  weary  are  .at  rest,*and  the  wicked  cease  from 
troubling ;"  and  holy  Job  seems  to'desire  this  favour  from 
his  Maker  here. 

Sometimes  indeed,  in  the  history  of  this  book,  he  seems 
to  break  out  into  these  desires  in  too  rude  and  angry  a 
manner  of  expression ;  and  in'  a  fit  of  criminal  impatience 
he  murmurs  against  God  for  upholding  him  in  the  land  of 
the  living :  but  at  other  times,  as  in  'this  text,  he  repre- 
sents his  desires  with  more  decency  and  submission. 
Every  desire  to  die  is  not  to  be  construed  sinful  and  crim- 
inal. Nature  may  ask  of  God  a  relief  from  its  agonies 
and  a  period  to  its  sorrows ;  nor  does  grace  utterly  forbid 
it,  if  there  be  also  an  humble  submission  and  resignation 


240  SAFETY  IN.  THE  GRAVE, 

to  the  will  of  God,  such  as  we  find  exemplified  by  our 
blessed  Saviour,  "Father,  if  it  be  thy  will  let  this  cup 
pass  from  me ;  yet  not  as  I  will,  but  as  thou  wilt." 

On  this  second  observation,  I  desire  to  make  these 
three  reflections.  . 

Reflec.  1.  Though- a  good  man  knows  that  death  was 
originally  appointed  as  a  curse  for  siy,  yet  his  faith  can 
trust  God  to  turn  that  curse  into  a  blessing.  He  can  hum- 
bly ask  his  Maker  to  release  him  from  the  painful,  bonds 
of  life,  to  hasten  the  slow  approaches  of  death,  and  to  hide 
him  in  the  grave  from  some  overwhelming  sorrows.  Thi? 
fs  the  glory  of  God  in  his  covenant  of  grace  with  thf; 
children  of  men,  that  he  "turns  Curves  into  blessings," 
Deut.  xxiii.  5.  And  the  grave,  which  was  designed  as  a 
prison  for  sinners,  is  become  a  place  of  shelter  to  the" 
saints,  where  they  are  hidden  and  secured  from. rising 
sorrows  and  calamities.  It  is  God's  known  hiding-place 
for  his  own  children  from  the  envy  and  the  rage  of  men ; 
from  all  the  known  and  unknown  agonies  of  nature,  the 
diseases  of  the  flesh,  and  the  distresses  of  hu:uaii  life, 
which  perhaps  might  be  overbearing  and  intolerable. 

Why,  0  my  fearful  soul,  why  shouldst  thou  be  afraid 
of  dying?  Why  shouldst  thou  be  frighted  at  the  dark 
shadows  of  the  gra^e,  when  thou  art  weary  with  the  toils 
and, crosses  of  the'  day?  Hast  thou  not  often  desired  the 
shadow  of  the  evening,  and  longed  for  the  bed  of  natural 
sleep,  where  thy  fatigues  and  thy  sorrows  may  be  for- 
gotten for  a  season  ?  And  is  no't,  the  grave  itself  a  sweet 
sleeping-place  for  the  saints1,  wherein  they  lie  down  and 
forget  their  distresses,  and  feel  none  of  the  miseries  of 
human  life,  and  especially  s^nce  it  is  softened  and  sancti- 
fied by  the  Son  of  God  lying  down  there?  Why  shouldst 
thou  be  afraid  to  lay  thy  head  in  the  dust?.  It  is  but  en- 
tering into  'God's  hiding-place,'  into  his  chambers  of  rest 
and  repose :  it  is  but  committing  thy  flesh,  the  meaner 
part  of  thy  composition,  to  his  care  m  the  dark  for  a  short 
season.  He  will  hide  the'e  there,  and  keep  thee  in  safety 
from  the  dreadful  trials  which  perhaps  would  overwhelm 
thy  spirit.  Sometimes  in  the  course  of  his  providence  he 
may  find  it  necessary  that  some  spreading  calamity  should 
overtake  the  place  where  thou  dwellest,  or  some  distress- 
ing stroke  fall  upon  thy  family,  or  thy  friends,  but  he  will 
hide  thee  under  ground  before  it  comes,  and  thus  disap- 


AND  JOT  AT  THE  RESURRECTION.  241 

point  all  thy  fears,  ar:d  lay  every  perplexing  thought  into 
rest  and  silence. 

Reflect.  2.  Let  it  be  ever  remembered,  that  the  grave 
is  God's  hiding-place,  and  not  our  own.  We  are  to  ven- 
ture into  it  without  terror  when  he  calls  us ;  but  he  does 
not  suffer  us  to  break  into  it  our  own  way  without  his 
call  Death  and  life  are  in  the  hands  of  God,  and  he  never 
gave  the  keys  of  them  to  mortal  men,  to  let  themselves 
out  of  this  world  when  they  pleaso,  nor  to  enter  his  hiding- 
place  without  his  leave. 

Bear  up  then,  0  my  soul,  under  all  the  sorrows  and 
trials  of  this  present  state,  till  God  himself  shall  say,  it  is 
finished  ;  till  our  blessad  Jesus,  who  has  the  .keys  put 
into  his  hands,  shall  open  the  door  of  death,  and  give  thee 
an  entrance  into  that  dark  and  peaceful  retreat.  It  is  a 
safe  and  silent  refuge  from  the  bustle  and  the  noise,  the 
labours  and  the  troubles  of  life ;  but  he  that  forces  it  open 
with  his  own  hands,  how  will  he  dare  to  appear  before 
God  in  the  world  of  spirits?  What  will  he  answer,  when 
with  a  dreadful  frown  the  great  God  shall  demand  of  him, 
"friend,  hoWcomest  thou  in  hither?"  Who  sent  for  thee, 
or  gave  thee  leave  to  come  ?  Such  a  wretch  must  venture 
upon  so  rash  an  action  at  the  peril  of  the  wrath  of  God, 
and  his  own  eternal  destruction. 

Our  blessed  Jesus,  who  has  all  the  vast  scheme  of  di- 
vine counsels  before  his  eyes,  by  having  the  books  of  his 
Father's  decrees  put  into  his  hands,  he  knows  how  long 
it  is  proper  for  thee,  0  Christian,  to  fight  and  labour,  to 
wrestle  and  strive  with  sins,  temptations  and  difficulties 
in  the  present  life.  He  knows  best  in  what  moment  to 
put  a  period  to  them,  and  pronounce  thee  conqueror.  Fly 
not  from  the  field  of  battle  for  want  oi  holy  fortitude, 
though  thy  enemies  and  -thy  danger?  be  never  so  many; 
nor  dare  to  dismiss  thyself  from  thy  appointed  post,  till 
the  Lord  of  life  pronounce  the  word  of  thy  dismission. 

Sometimes  I  have  been  ready  to  say  within  myself, 
why  is  my  life  prolonged  in  sorrow?  Why  are  my  days 
lengthened  out  to  see  further  wretchedness?  Methinks 
the  "grave  should  be  ready  for  me,  and  the  house  appoint- 
ed for  all  the  living."  What  can  I  do  further  for  God  or 
for  man  here  on  earth,  since  my  nature  pines  away  with 
painful  sickness,  my  nerves  are  unstrung,  my  spirits  dis- 
sipated, and  my  best  powers  of  acting  are  enfeebled  and 
31  V 


242  SAFETY  IN  THE   GRAVE, 

almost  lost?  Peace,  peace,  0  thou  complaining  spirit!  Dost 
thou  know  the  counsels  of  the  Almighty,  and  the  secret 
designs  of  thy  God  and  thy  Saviour  ?  He  has  many  deep 
and  unknown  purposes  in  continuing  his  children  amidst 
heavy  sorrows,  which  they  can  never  penetrate  or  learn 
in  this  world.  Silence  and  submission  becomes  thee  at 
all  times.  "Father,  not  my  will,  but  thy  will  be  dons." 

And  let  it  be  hinted  to  thee,  0  my  soul,  that  it  is  much 
more  honourable  to  be  weary  of  this  life,  because  of  the 
sins  and  temptations  of  it,  than  because  of  the  toils  and 
sorrows  that  attend  it.  If  we  must  "groan  in  this  taber- 
nacle being  burdened,"  let  the  snares,  and  the  dangers, 
and  the  defilements  of  it  be  the  chief  springs  of  thy  groan- 
ing and  the  warmest  motives  to  request  a  release.  God 
loves  to  see  his  peopJe  more  afraid  of  sin  than  of  sorrow. 
If  thy  corruptions  are  so  strong,  and  the  temptations  of 
life  so  unhappily  surround  thee,  that  thou  art  daily  crying 
out,  "who  shall  deliver  thee  from  the  body  of  sin  and 
death,"  then  thou  mayest  more  honourably  send  up  a  wish 
to  heaven,  "0  that  I  had  the  wings  of  a  dove,  that  I  might 
fly  away  and  be  at  rest!  0  that  God  would  hide  me  in  the 
grave"  from  my  prevailing  iniquities,  and  from  the  ruffling 
and  disquieting  influence  of  my  own  follies  and  my  daily 
temptations!  But  never  be  thou  quite  weary  of  doing  or 
suffering  the  will  of  thy  heavenly  Father,  though  he  should 
continue  thee  in  this  mortal  life  a  length  of  years  beyond 
thy  desires,  and  should' withhold  thee  from  his  secret  place 
of  retreat  and  rest. 

A  constant  and  joyful  readiness  set  the  call  of  God  to 
depart  hence,  with  a  cheerful  patience  to  continue' here 
during  his  pleasure,  is  the  most  perfect  and  blessed  temper 
that  a  Christian  t/m  arrive  at :  it  gives  God  the  highest 
glory,  and  keeps  tho.  soul  in  the  sweetest  peace. 

Reflect  3.  This  one- thought,  that  the  <  grave  is  God's 
hiding-place,'  should  compose  our  spirits -to  silence,  and 
abate  our  mourning  for  ^he  loss  of  friends,  who  have  given 
sufficient  evidence  that  they  arc  the  children  of  God. 
Their  heavenly  Father  has  seized  them  from  the  midst 'of 
their  trials,  dangers  and  difficulties,  and  given  them  a  se- 
cure refuge  in  his  own  appointed  place  of  rest  and  safety. 
Jesus  has  opened  the  door  of  the  grave  with  his  golden 
key,  and  hath  let  them  into  a  chamber  of  repose.  He  has 
concealed  them  ia  a  silent  retreat,  where  temptation  and 


AND  JOY  AT  THE  RESURRECTION.  243 

sin  cannot  reach  them,  and  where  anguish  and  misery  can 
never  come. 

When  I  have  lost  therefore  a  dear  and  delightful  rela- 
tive or  friend,  or  perhaps  many  of  them  in  a  short  season 
are  called   successively  down  to  the  dust,  let  me  say  thus 
within  myseli,  "It  is  their  God  and  my  God  has  done  it 
He  saw  what  new  temptations  where  ready  to  surround 
them  in  the  circumstances  of  life  wherein  they  stood.  He 
beheld  the  trials  and   difficulties  that  were  ready  to  en- 
compass them  on  all  sides,  and  his  love  made  a  way  for 
their  escape.     He  opened  the  dark  retreat  of  death,  and 
hid  them  there  from  a  thousand  perils  which  might  have 
plunged  them  into  guilt  and  defilement.  He  beheld  this  as 
the  proper  season  to  give  them  a  release  from  a  world  of 
labour  and  toil,  vanity  and  vexation,  sin  and  sorrow.  They 
are  taken  away  from  the  evil  to  come,  and'I  will  learn 
to  complain  no  more.  The  blessed  Jesus  to  whom  they 
had  devoted  themselves,  well  knew  what  allurements  of 
gaiety  and  joy  might  have  been  too  prevalent  over  them, 
and  he  gave  them  a  kind  escape  lest  their  souls  should 
suffer  any  real  detriment,  lest  their  strict  profession  of 
piety  should  be  soiled  or  dishonoured.     He  knew  how 
much  they  ivere  able  to  bear,   and  be  would  lay  upon 
them  no  further  burden.     He  saw  rising  difficulties  ap- 
proaching, and  new  perils  coming  upon  them  beyond  their 
strength,  and  he  fulfils  their  own  promises,  and  glorifies 
his  own  faithfulness,  by  opening  the  door  of  his  well- 
known  .hiding-place,  and  giving  them  a  safe  refuge  there. 
He  keeps  them  there  in  secret  from  the  corruptions  of  a 
public  life,  and  the  multiplied  dangers  of  a  degenerate 
age,  which  might  have  divided  their  hearts  from  God  and 
things  heavenly :  and  perhaps  he  guards  them  also  in  that 
dark  retreat  from  some  long  and  languishing  sickness, 
some  unknown  distress,  some  overbearing  flood  of  misery, 
which  was  like  to  come  upon  them  had  they  continued 
longer  on  the  stage  of  life. 

"Let  this  silence  thy  murmuring  thoughts,  0  my  soul; 
let  this  dry  up  thy  tears  which  are  ready  to  overflow  on 
such  an  occasion.  Dare  not  pronounce  it  a  stroke  of  anger 
from  the  hand  of  God,  who  divicTed  them  from  the  tempt- 
ing or  the  distressing  scenes  of  this  world,  and  kindly  re- 
moved them  out  of  the  way  of  danger.  This  was  the 
wisest  method  of  his  love  to  guard  them  from  many  a 


244  SAFETY  IN  THE  GRAVE, 

folly  and  many  a  sorrow,  which  he  foresaw  just  at  the 
door." 

Will  the  wounded  and  complaining  heart  go  on  to  groan 
and  murmur  still,  'But  my  son  was  carried  off  in  the  prime 
of  life,  or  my  daughter  in  her  blooming  years;  they  stood 
flourishing  in  the  vigour  of  their  nature,  and  it  was  my 
delight  to  behold  their  growing  appearances  of  virtue  and 
goodness,  and  that  in  the  midst  of  ease,  and  plenty,  and 
prospects  of  happiness,  so  far  as  this  world  can  afford  it  ?' 

But  could  you  look  through  the  next  year  to  the  end 
of  it?  Could  you  penetrate  into  future  events,  and  survey 
the  scenes  of  seven  years  to  come  ?  Could  your  heart  as- 
sure itself  of  the  real  possession  of  this  imaginary  view 
of  happiness  and  peace?  Perhaps  the  blessed  God  saw  the 
clouds  gathering  afar  off,  and  at  a  great  distance  of  time, 
and  in  much  kindness  he  housed  your  favourite  from  un- 
known trials,  dangers  and  sorrows.  So  a  prudent  gardener, 
who  is  acquainted  with  the  sky,  and  skilful  in  the  signs 
of  the  seasons,  even  in  the  month  of  May,  foresees  a 
heavy  tempest  rising  in  the  edge  of  the  horizon,  while  a 
vulgar  eye  observes  nothing  but  sunshine;  and  he  who 
knows  the  worth  and  the  tenderness  of  some  special  plants 
in  his  garden,  houses  them  in  haste,  lest  they  should  be 
exposed  and  demolished  by  the  sweeping  rain  or  haih 

You  say,  'these  children  were  in  the  bloom  of  life,  and 
in  the  most  desirable  appearance  of  joy  and  satisfaction  :' 
but  is  not  that  also  usually  the  most  dangerous  season  of 
life,  and  the  hour  of  most  powerful  temptation  ?  Was  not 
that  the  time  when  their  passions  might  have  been  too  hard 
for  them,  and  the  deluding  pleasures  of  life  stood  round 
them  with  a  most  perilous  assault?  And  what  if  God,  out 
of  pure  compassion,  saw  it  necessary  to  hide  them  from 
an  army  of  perils  at  once,  and  to  carry  them  off  the  stage 
of  life  with  more  purity  and  honour?  Surely  when  the 
great  God  has  appointed  it,  when  the  blessed  Jesus  has 
done  it,  we  would  not  rise  up  in  opposition  and  say,  'But 
I  would  have  had  them  live  longer  here  at  all  adventures: 
I  wish  they  were  alive  again,  let  the  consequence  be  what 
it  will.'  This  is  not  the  voice  of  faith  or  patience  ;  this 
is  not  the  language  of  holy  submission  and  love  to  God, 
nor  can  our  souls  approve  of  such  irregular  storms  of  unr 
governed  affection,  which  oppose  themselves  to  the  divine 
will,  and  ruffle  the  soul  with  criminal  disquietude. 


AND  JOY  AT  THE  RESURRECTION.  245 

There  are  many,  even  of  the  children  of  God,  who  had 
left  a  more  unblemished  and  a  more  honourable  character 
behind  them,  if  they  had  died  much  sooner.  The  latter 
end  of  life  hath  sometimes  sullied  their  brightness,  and 
tarnished  the  glory  they  had  acquired  in  a  hopeful  youth. 
Their  growing  years  have  fallen  under  such  temptations, 
and  been  defiled  and  disgraced  by  such  failings,  as  would 
have  been  entirely  prevented  had  they  been  summoned 
away  into  God's  hiding-place  some  years  before.  Our  bles- 
sed Jesus  walks  among  the  roses  and  lilies  in  the  garden 
of  his  church,  and  when  he  sees  a  wintry  storm  coming 
upon  some  tender  plants  of  righteousness,  he  hides  them 
in  earth  to  preserve  life  in  them,  that  they  may  bloom  with 
new  glories  when  they  shall  be  raised  from  that  bed.  The 
blessed  God  acts  like  a  tender  Father,  and  consults  the 
safety  .and  honour  of  his  children,  when  the  hand  of  his 
mercy  snatches  them  away  before  that  powerful  tempta- 
tion comes,  which  he  foresees  would  have  defiled  and  dis- 
tressed, and  almost  destroyed--them.  They  are  not  lost, 
but  they  are  gone  to  rest  a  little  sooner  than  we  are.  Peace 
be  to  that  bed  of  dust  where  they  are  hidden,  by  the  hand 
of  their  God,  from  unknown  clangers !  Blessed  be  our 
Lord  Jesus,  who  .has  the  keys  of  the  grave,  and  rtever 
opens  it  for  his  favourites  but  in  the  wisest  season  ! 

Obs.  III.  'God  has  appointed  a  set  time  in  his  own 
counsels  for  all  his  children  to  continue  in  death.'  Those 
whom  he  has  hidden  in  the  grave  he  remembers  that  they 
lie  there,  and  he  will  not  suffer  them  to  abide  in  the  dust 
for  ever.  When  Job  entreats  of  God  that  he  may  be  hid- 
den from  his  sorrows  in  the  dust  of  death,  he  requests  also 
that  "God  would  appoint  a  set  time"  for  his  release,  "an3 
remember  him."  His  faith  seems  to  have  had  a  glimpse 
of  the  blessed  resurrection.  Our  senses  and  our  carnal  pas- 
sions would  cry  out,  where  is  Abraham,  and  Isaac,  and  Ja- 
cob, and  the  rest  of  the  ancient  worthies,  who  have  been 
long  sleepers  in  their  beds  of  repose  for  many  thousand 
years?  But  faith" assures  us,  that  God  numbers  the  days 
and  the  months  of  their  concealment  under  ground,  he 
knows  where  their  dust  lies,  and  where  to  find  every  scat- 
tered atom  against  the  great  restoring  day.  They  are  un- 
seen indeed  and  forgotten  of  men,  but  they  are  under  the 
eye  and  the  keeping  of  the  blessed  God.  He  watches  over 
their  sleeping  dust,  and  while  the  world  has  forgotten  and 
Y2 


246  SAFETY  IX  THE  GRAVE, 

lost  even  their  names,  they  are  every  moment  under  the 
eye  of  God,  for  they  stand  written  in  his  book  of  life,  with 
the  name  of  the  Lamb  at  the  head  of  them. 

Jesus,  his  Son,  had  but  three  days  appointed  him  to 
dwell  in  this  hiding-place,  and  he  rose  again  at  the  ap- 
pointed hour.  Other  good  men,  who  were  gone  to  their 
grave  not  long  before  him,  arose  again  at  the  resurrection 
of  Christ,  and  made  a  visit  to  many  in  Jerusalem.  Their 
appointed  hiding-place  was  but  for  a  short  season  ;  and  all 
the  children  of  God  shall  be  remembered  in  their  proper 
seasons  in  faithfulness  to  his  Son  to  whom  he  has  given 
them.  The  Head  is  raised  to  the  mansions  of  glory,  and 
the  members  must  not  forever  lie  in  dust. 

Reflection.  Then  let  all  the  saints  of  God  wait  with 
patience  for  the  appointed  time  when  he  will  call  them 
down  to  death,  and  let  them  lie  down  in  their  secret  beds 
of  repose,  and  in  a  waiting  frame  commit  their  dust  to  his 
care  till  the  resurrection.  "  All  the  days  of  my  appointed 
time  (says  Job)  I  will  wait  till  my  change  come."  The 
word  '  appointed  time'  is  supposed  to  signify  warfare  in 
the  Hebrew  :  as  a  centinel,  when  he  is  fixed  to  his  post  by 
his  .general,  he  waits  there  till  he  has  orders  for  a  release. 
And  this  clause  of  the  verse  may  refer  either  to  dying  or 
rising  again,  for  either  of  them  is  a  very  great  and  im- 
portant change  passing  upon  human  nature,  whether  from 
life  to  death,  01  from  death  to  life. 

It  is  said  by  the  prophet  Isaiah,  chap,  xxviii.  10,  "He 
that  believeth  shall  not  make  haste,"  i.  e.  he  that  trusts  in 
the  wisdom  and  the  promised  mercy  of  God  will  not  be 
too  urgent  or  importunate  in  any  of  his  desires.  It  is  for 
want  of  faith  that  nature  sometimes  is  in  too  much  haste 
to  die,  as  Job  in  some  of  his  expressions  appears  to  have 
been,  or  as  Elijah  perhaps  discovered  himself  when  he 
was  wandering  in  the  wilderness  disconsolate  and  almost 
despairing,  or  as  the  prophet  Jeremiah  sufficiently  mani- 
fested, when  he  cursed  the  day  of  his  birth,  or  as  Jonah 
was,  that  peevish  prophet,  when  he  was  angry  with  God 
for  not  taking  away  his  life  ;  but  the  ground  of  it  was,  he 
was  vexed  because  God  did  not  destroy  Nineveh  according 
to  his  prophecy.  These  are  certain  blemishes  of  the  chil- 
dren of  God  left  upon  record  in  his  word,  to  give  us 
warning  of  our  danger  of  impatience,  and  to  guard  us 
against  their  sins  and  follies.  And  since  we  know  that 


AND  JOY  AT  THE  RESURRECTION.  247 

God  has  appointed  the  seasons  of  our  entrance  into  death, 
and  into  the  state  of  the  resurrection,  we  should  humbly 
commit  the  disposal  of  ourselves  to  the  hand  of  our  God, 
who  will  bestow  upon  us  the  most  needful  blessings  in  the 
most  proper  season. 

Do  not  the  "spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect"  wait  in 
patience  for  the  great  and  blessed  rising-day  which  God 
has  appointed,  and  for  the  illustrious  change  of  their  bo- 
dies from  corruption  and  darkness  to  light,  and  life,  and 
glory  ?  God  has  promised  it,  and  that  suffices,  and  sup- 
ports their  waiting  spirits,  though  they  know  not  the  hour. 
The  "  Father  keeps  that  in  his  own  hand,"  and  perhaps 
reveals  it  to  none  but  his  Son  Jesus,  who  is  exalted  to  be 
the  governor  and  judge  of  the  world.  There  are  mill- 
ions of  souls  waiting  in  that  separate  state  for  ths  accom- 
plishment of  these  last  and  best  promises,  ready  to  shout 
and  rejoice  when  they  shall  see  and  feel  that  bright  morn- 
ing dawning  upon  them. 

Wait  therefore,  0  my  soul,  as  becomes  a  child  of  God 
in  the  wilderness  among  many  trials,  darknesses,  and  dis- 
tresses. He  has  stripped  thee  perhaps  of  one  comfort  af- 
ter another,  and  thy  friends  and  dear  relatives  in  succes- 
sion are  called  down  to  the  dust ;  they  are  released  from 
their  conflicts,  and  are  placed  far  out  of  the  reach  of  every 
temptation  ;  and  it  is  not  thy  business  to  prescribe  to  God 
at  what  hour  he  shall  release  thee  also.  Whensoever  he 
is  pleased  to  call  thee  to  lay  down  thy  flesh  in  the  dust, 
and  to  enter  into  God's  hiding-place,  meet  thou  the  sum- 
mons with  holy  courage,  satisfaction  and  joy,  enter  into 
the  chamber  of  rest  till  all  the  days  of  sin,  sorrow  and 
wretchedness  are  overpast.  Lie  down  there  in  a  waiting 
frame,  end  commit  thy  flesh  to  his  care  and  keeping  till 
the 'hour  in  which  he  has  appointed  thy  glorious  change. 

Obs.  IV.  'The  lively  view  of  a  happy  resurrection, 
and  a  well  grounded  hope  of  this  blessed  change,  is  a  solid 
and  divine  comfort  to  the  saints  of  God,  under  all  trials 
of  every  kind,  both  in  life  and  death.'  The  faith  and 
hope  of  a  joyful  rising-day  has  supported  the  children  of 
God  under  long  distresses  and  uige  agonies  of  sorrow 
which  they  sustain  here.  It's  the  expectation  of  this  de- 
sirable day  that  animates  the  s->ul  \vth  vigour  and  life  to 
fulfil  every  painful  and  dangerois  dutj.  It  is  for  this  we 
expose  ourselves  to  the  bitter  repmchetand  persecutions 


248  SAFETY  IN  THE  GKAVE, 

of  the  wicked  world  ;  it  is  for  this  that  we  conflict  with 
all  our  adversaries  on  earth,  and  all  the  powers  of  darkness 
that  are  sent  from  hell  to  annoy  us  ;  it  is  this  joyful  ex- 
pectation that  bears  up  our  spirits  under  every  present 
burden  and  calamity  of  life. 

What  could  we  do  in  such  a  painful  and  dying  world, 
or  how  could  we  bear  with  patience  the  long  fatigues  of 
such  a  wretched  life,  if  we  had'  no  hope  of  rising  again 
from  the  dead  ?     Surely  "  we  are  the  most  miserable  of 
all  men"  in  days  of  public  persecution,  "  if  we  had  hope 
only  in  this  life,"  1  Cor.  xv.  19.     It  is  for  this  that  we  la- 
bor, and  suffer,  and   endure  whatsoever  our  heavenly  Fa- 
ther is  pleased  to  lay  upon  us.     It  is  this  confirms  our  for- 
titude,   and    makes   "  us    steadfast,    unloveable,   always 
abounding  in  the  work  of  the  Lord,  for  as  much  as  we 
know  that  our  labour  shall  not  be  in  vain  in  the  Lord," 
1  Cor.  xv.   58.     It  is  this  that  enables  us  to  bear  the  loss 
of  our  dearest  friends  with  patience  and  hope,  and  assuages 
the  smart  of  our  sharpest  sorrows.     For  since  we  believe 
that  "  Jesus  died  and  rose  again,"  so  we  rejoice  in  hope 
that  "  they  which  sleep  in  Jesus  shall   be  brought  with 
him"  at  his  return,  and  shall  appear  in  brighter  and  more 
glorious  circumstances  than  ever  our  eyes  were  blessed 
with  here  on  earth,  1  Thcs.  iv.  13.    This  teaches  us  to  tri- 
umph over  death  and.  the  grave  in  divine  language,  "0 
death,  where  is  thy  sting  ?     0  grave,  where  is  thy  vic- 
tory ?" 

Reflection.  What  are  thy  chie£  burdens,  0  my  soul? 
Whence  are  all  thy  sighs  and  thy  daily  groanings?  What 
are  thy  distresses  of  flesh  or  spirit?  Summon  them  all  in 
one  view,  and  see  whether  there  be  not  power  and  glory 
enough  in  a  resurrection  to  conquer  and  silence  them  all, 
and  to  put  thy  present  sorrows  to  flight? 

Dost  thou  dwell  in  a 'vexing  and  persecuting  world/ 
amongst  oppressions  and  rep/oaches  ?  But  those  who  re- 
proach and  oppress  are  bi/t  mortal  creatures,  who  shall 
shortly  go  down  to  the  du*t,  and  then  they  shall  tyrannize 
and  afflict  thee  no  mo/4.  The  great  rising-day  shall 
change  the  scene  from  oppression  and  reproach  .to  domin- 
ion and  glory.  Whep  "they  lie  down  in  the  grave  like" 
beasts  of  slaughter,  'deatX  shall  feed  on  them,  and  the 
upright  shall  have  dominion  over  them  in  the  morning, 
when  God  shall  /edeex*  thy  soul  from  the  power  of  the 


AND  JOT  AT  THE  RESURRECTION. 

grave."  Thy  God  shall  hide  thy  body  from  their  rage 
in  his  own  appointed  resting-place,  and  he  shall  receive 
thy  soul,  and  keep  it  secure  in  his  own  presence,  till  that 
blessed  morning  break  upon  this  lower  creation;  then 
shalt  thou  "arise  and  shine,  for  the  glory  of  the  Lord  is 
risen  upon  thee." 

Do  the  •' calamities  which  thou  sufferest  proceed  from 
the  hand  of  Gocl  ?'  Art  thou  disquieted  with  daily  pain, 
with  sicknesses  and  anguish  in  thy  flesh?  or  art  thou  sur- 
rounded with  crosses  and  disappointments  in  thy  outward 
circumstances?  Are  thy  spirits  sunk  with  many  loads  of 
care  and  pressing  perplexities?  Canst  thou  not  forget 
them  all  in  the  visio.i  that  faith  can  give  thee  of  the  great 
rising-day?  Canst  thou  not  say  in  the  language  of  faith, 
"the  sufferings  of  this  present  time  are  not  worthy  to  be 
compared  with  the  glory  that  shall  be  revealed  in  us?" 
Then  the  head  and  the  heart  shell  ake  no  more,  and  every 
circumstance  around  thee  shall  be  pleasing  and  joyful  for 
ever. 

Or  art  thou  tenderly  affected  with  the  'loss  of  pious 
friends,'  who  have  been  very  dear  and  desirable?  Per- 
haps thy  sensibilities  here  are  too  great  and  painful:  they 
are  such  indeed  as  nature  is  ready  to  indulge,  but  are  they 
not  more  than  God  requires,  or  the  gospel  allows?  Do 
not  thy  thoughts  dwell  too  much  on  the  gloom  and  dark- 
ness of  the  grave?  0  think  of  that  bright  hour  when 
every  saint  shall  rise  from  the  dark  retreats  of  death  with 
more  complete  characters  of  beauty,  holiness  and  pleasure 
than  ever  this  world  could  shew  them  in  !  They  are  not 
perished,  but  sent  a  Kttle  before  us  into  '  God's  hiding- 
place/  where  though  they  lie  in  dust  and  darkness,  yet 
they  are  safe  from  the  dangers  and  vexations  of  life;  but 
they  shall  spring  up  in  the  happy  moment  into  immor- 
tality, and  shall  join  with  thee  in  a  mutual  surprise  at 
each  other's  divine  change. 

Or  dost  thou  feel  the  'corruptions  of  thy  heart'  work- 
ing within  thee,  and  the  sins  of  thy  nature  restless  in 
their  endeavours  to  bring  defilement  upon  thy  soul,  and 
guilt  upon  thy  conscience?  Go  on  and  maintain  the  holy 
warfare  against  all  these  rising  iniquities.  This  thy  war- 
fare shall  not  continue  long.  Thou  shalt  find  every  one 
of  these  sins  buried  with  thee  in  the  grave,  but  they  shall 
rise  to  assault  thee  no  more.  The  saint  shall  leave  every 
32 


250  SAFETY  IN  THE  GRAVE, 

sin  behind  him  when  he  breaks. out  of  the  dust  at  the 
summons  of  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  find  no  seeds  of  iniquity 
in  thy  body  when  it  is  raised  from  the  grave.  "Holiness 
to  the  Lord"  shall  be  inscribed  upon  all  thy  powers  for 
ever. 

Or  art  thou  perplexed,  0  my  soul,  <at  the  near  prospect 
of  death,'  and  all  the  terrors  and  dismal  appearances  that 
surround  it?  Art  thou  afraid  to  lie  down  in  the  cold  and 
noisome  grave?  Does  thy  nature  shudder  at  it  as  a 
gloomy  place  of  horror?  These  indeed  are  the  prejudices 
of  sense  ;  but  the  language  of  faith  will  tell  thee,  it  is  only 
1  God's  hiding-place,'  where  he  secures  his  saints  till  all 
the  ages  of  sin  and  sorrow  «.re  overpast.  Look  forward 
to  the  glorious  morning  when  thou  shalt  rise  from  the 
dust  among  ten  thousand  of  thy  fellows,  every  one  in  the 
image  of  the  Son  of  God,  with  their  "  bodies  formed  after 
the  likeness  of  his  glorious  body,"  and  rejoicing  together 
with  divine  satisfaction  in  the  pleasure  of  this  heavenly 
change.  Try  whether  the  meditation  of  these  glories, 
and  the  distant  prospect  of  this  illustrious  day,  will  scatter 
all  the  gloom  that  hovers  round  the  grave,  and  vanquish 
the  fiercest  appearances  of  the  king  of  terrors. 

What  is  there,  0  my  soul,  among  all  the  miseries  thou 
hast  felt,  or  all  that  thou  fearest,  that  can  sink  thy  courage, 
if  the  faith  of  a  resurrection  be  but  alive  and  wakeful? 
But  this  leads  me  to  the 

Obs.  V.  'The  saints  of  God,  who  are  resting  in  their 
beds  of  dust,  will  arise  joyfully  at  the  call  of  their  heaven- 
ly Father.'  "Thou  shalt  callj  and  Twill  answer  thee," 
said  holy  Job.  The"  command  of  God  creates  life,  and 
gives  power  to  the  dead  to  arise  and  speak.  '  I  come,  0 
Lord,  I  come.'  When  Jesus,  the  Son  of  God,  as  with 
the  trumpet  of  an  archangel,  shall  pronounce  the  word 
which  he  spake  to  Lazarus,  "Arise  and  come  forth,"  dust 
and  rottenness  shall  hear  the  call  from  heaven,  and  the 
clods  of  corruption  all  round  the  earth  shall  arise  into  the 
form  of  man.  The  saints  shall  -appear  at  once  and  an- 
swer to  that  divine  call,  arrayed  in  a  glory  like  that  of 
angels ;  an  illustrious  host  of  martyrs  and  confessors  for 
the  truth ;  an  army  of  heroes  and  valiant  sufferers  for  the 
name  and  cause  of  God  and  his  Son  ;  an  innumerable  mul- 
titude of  faithful  servants  who  have  finished  their  work, 
and  who  are  laid  down  at  rest. 


AND  JOT  AT  THE  RESURRECTION.  251 

How  shall  Adam,  the  father  of  our  race,  together  with 
the  holy  men  of  his  day,  be  surprised,  when  they  shall 
awake  out  of  their  long  sleep  of  five  thousand  years  ? 
How  shall  all  the  saints  of  the  intermediate  ages  break 
from  their  beds  of  darkness  with  intense  delight?  And 
those  who  lay  down  but  yesterday  in  the  dust  shall  start 
up  at  once  with  their  early  ancestors,  and  answer  to  the 
call  of  Jesus  from  one  end  of  time  to  the  other,  and  from 
all  the  ends  of  the  earth.  They  shall  arise  together  to 
<meet  the 'Lord  in  the  air,  that  they  may  be  for  ever  with 
the  Lord.' 

Never  was  any  voice  obeyed  with  more  readiness  and 
joy  than  the  voice  or  trumpet  of  the  great  archangel,  sum- 
moning all  the  children  of  God  to  awake  from  their  long 
slumbers,  and  to  leave  their  dusty  beds  behind  them,  with 
all  the  seeds  of  sin  and  sorrow,  which  are  buried  and  lost 
there  for  ever.  Never  did  any  army  on  earth  march  with 
more  speed  and  pleasure,  at  the  sound  of  the  trumpet,  to 
attend  their  general  to  a  new  triumph,  than  this  glorious 
assembly  shall  arise  to  meet  their  returning  Lord,  when 
this  last  trumpet  sounds,  and  when  he  shall  come  the  sec- 
ond time  in  the  full  glories  of  his  person  and  his  offices, 
as  Lord  and  Juxlge  of  the  world,  to  bring  his  faithful  fol- 
lowers into  complete  salvation. 

Reflection.  Whensoever,  0  my  soul,  thoii  feelest  any 
reluctance  to  obey  the  summons  of  death,  encourage  thy 
faith,  and  scatter  thy  fears,  by  waiting  for  the  call  pf  God 
to  a  blessed  resurrection.  Jesus  himself  lay  down  in  the 
grave  at  his  Father's  command,  and  he  arose  with  joy  at 
the  appointed  hour  as  the  head  of  the  new  creation,  as  the 
first-born  from  the  dead  ;  and  he  has  orders  given  him  by 
the  Father  to  summon  every  saint  from  their  graves  at  the 
long  appointed  hour.  Because  Jesus  arose  and  lives,  they 
shall  arise  and  live  also.  0  may  my  flesh  lie  down  in  the 
dust  with  all  courage  and  composure,  and  rejoice  to  escape 
into  a  place  of  rest  and  silence,  far  away  from  the  noise 
and  tumult,  the  hurry  and  bustle  of  this  present  life  ;  being 
well  assured  that  the  next  sound  which  shall  be  heard  is 
the  voice  of  the  Son  of  God,  "Arise  ye  dead  !"  Make 
haste  then,  0  blessed  Jesus,  and  finish  thy  divine  work 
here  on  earth :  I  lay  down  my  head  to  sleep  in  the  dust, 
waiting  for  thy  call  to  awake  in  the  morning. 

Ob*.  VI.     'God  takes  delight  in  his  works  of  nature, 


253  SAFETY  IN  THE  GRAVE, 

but  much  more  when  they  are*  dignified  and  adorned  by 
the  operations  of  divine  grace.'  "Thou  wilt  have  a  de- 
sire," saith  the  good  man  in  my  text,  "to  the  work  of  thy 
own  hands."  Thou  hast  moulded  me  and  fashioned  me 
at  first  by  thy  power,  thou  has  created  me  hy  thy  spirit, 
and  though  thou  hidest  me  for  a  season  in  one  of  thy  secret 
chambers  of  death,  thou  wilt  raise  me  again  to  light  and 
life,  "and  in  my  flesh  shall  I  see  God." 

When  the.  Almighty  had  created  this  visible  world,  he 
surveyed  his  works  on  the  sev-enth  day,  and  p-onounced 
them  all  good,  and  he  took  delight  in  them  all  before  sin 
entered  and  defiled  them.  And  when  he  has  delivered 
the  creatures  of  his  power  from  the  bondage  of  corruption, 
and  has  purged  our  souls  and  our  bodies  from  sin  and 
from  every  evil  principle,  he  will  again  delight  in  the 
sons  and  daughters  of  Adam  whom  he  has  thus  cleansed 
and  refined  by  his  sovereign  grace,  and  has  qualified  and 
adorned  them  for  his  own  presence.  "He  will  sing  and 
rejoice  over  them,  and  rest  in  his  love,"  Zephan.  iii.  17. 

He  will  love  to  see  them  with  his  Son  Jesus  at  their 
head,  diffusing  holiness  and  glory  through  all  his  members. 
Jesus  the  Redeemer  will  love  to  see  them  round  him ;  for 
he  has  bought  them  with  his  blood,  and  they  are  a  treas- 
ure too  precious  to  be  for  ever  lost.  He  will  rejoice  to 
behold  them  rising  at  his  call  into  a  splendour  like  his 
own,  and  they  "shall  be  satisfied  when  they  awake"  from 
death  "into  his  likeness,"  .and  appear  in  the  image  of  his 
own  glorious  body,  fit  heirs  for  the  inheritance  of  heaven, 
fit  companions  for  the  blessed  angels  of  light,  and  prepared 
to  dwell  for  ever  with  himself. 

Reflection.  And  shall  not  we  who  are  the  work  of  his 
hands  have  a  desire  to  him  that  made  us?  to  him  that  re- 
deemed us?  to  him  that  has  new  created  and  moulded  us 
into  his  own  likeness?  Do  we  not  long  to  see  him?  Have 
we  not  a  desire  to  be  with  him,  even  though  we  should  be 
"absent  from  the  body"  for  a  season?  But  much  more 
should  we  delight  to  think  of  being  "present  with  the 
Lord,"  when  our  whole  natures,  body  and  soul,  shall  ap- 
pear as  the  new  workmanship  of  almighty  power;  our 
souls  new  created  in  the  image  of  God,  and  our  bodies  new 
born  from  the  de."d,  into  a  life  of  immortality. 

VII.  The  last  observation  is  of  a  very  general  nature, 
and  spreads  itself  through  all  my  text,  and  that  is,  <hovr 


AND  JOY  AT  THE  RESURRECTION.  253 

much  are  we  indebted  to  God  for  the  revelation  of  the 
New  Testament,  which  teaches  us  to  find  out  the  blessings 
which  are  contained  in  the  Old,  and  to  fetch  out  the  glories 
and  treasures  which  are  concealed  there  ?'  The  writers  of 
the  gospel  have  not  only  pointed  us  to  the  rich  mines  where 
these  treasures  lie,  but  have  brought  forth  many  of  the 
jewels  and  set  them  before  us.  It  is  this  gospel  that 
''brings  life  and  immortality  to  light  by  Jesus  Christ."  2 
Tim.  i.  10.  It  is  this  gospel  that  scatters  the  gloom  and 
darkness  which  was  spread  over  the  face  of  the  grave,  and 
illuminates  all  the  chambers  of  death.  -Who  could  have 
found  out  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  contained  in  that 
word  of  grace  given  to  Abraham,  "I  am  thy  God,"  if 
Jesus,  the  great  prophet,  had  not  taught  us  to  explain  it 
thus,  Matth.  xxii.  31?  "God  is  not  the  God  of  the  dead, 
but  of  the  living." 

We  who  have  the  happiness  to  live  in  the  days  of  the 
Messiah,  know  more  than  all  the  ancient  prophets  were 
acquainted  with,  and  understand  the  word  of  their  pro- 
phecies better  than  they  themselves  ;  for  "they  searched 
what  or  what  manner  of  time  the  spirit  of  Christ,  which 
was  in  them,  did  signify,  when  it  testified  before  hand  the 
sufferings  of  Christ,  and  the  glory  which  should  follow," 
1  Pet.  i.  1 1.  But  we  read  all  this  fairly  written  in  the  gospel. 
Do  you  think  that  good  David  could  have  explained  some 
of  his  own  Psalms  into  so  divine  a  sense,  or  Isaiah  given 
such  a  brhght  account  of  his  own  words  of  prophecy,  as 
St.  Paul  has  done  in  several  places  of  the  New  Testament, 
where  he  cites  and  unfolds  them  ?  Could  those  illustrious 
ancients  have  given  us  such  'abundant  consolation  and 
hope  through  the  Scriptures,'  which  they  themselves  'wrote 
aforetime,'  as  this  Apostle  has  done,  Rom.  xv.  4?  Do  you 
think  Job  could  have  read  us  such  a  lecture  on  his  own  ex- 
pressions in  this  text,  or  in  that  bright  prophecy  in  the 
xixth  chapter,  as  the  very  meanest  among  the  ministers  of 
the  gospel  can  do  by  the  help  of  the  New  Testament?  For 
in  point  of  clear  discoveries  of  divine  truths  and  graces, 
"the  least  in  the  kingdom  of  the  Messiah  is  greater  than 
John  the  Baptist  and  all  the  prophets,"  and  our  blessed 
Jesus  has  told  us"  so,  Matth.  xi.  11.  13.  And  by  the  aid 
and  influences  of  his  Spirit  we  may  be  taught  yet  further 
to  search  into  these  hidden  mines  of  grace,  and  bring  forth 
new  treasures  of  glory. 


254  .  SAFETY  IN  THE  GKAVB. 

Reflection.  Awake,  0  my  soul,  and  bless  the  Lord 
with  all  thy  powers,  and  give  thanks  with  holy  joy  for 
the  gospel  of  his  Son  Jesus.  Jesus  by  his  rising  from  the 
dead  has  left  a  divine  light  upon  the  gates  of  the  grave, 
and  scattered  much  of  the  darkness  that  surrounded  it.  It 
is  the  gospel  of  Christ  which  casts  a  glory  even  lipon  the 
bed  of  death,  and  spreads  a  brightness  upon  the  graves  o/ 
the  saints  in  the  lively  views  of  a  great  rising-day.  0  bles- 
sed and  surprising  prospect  of  faith  !  0  illustrious  scenes 
of  future  vision  and  transport  !  When  the.-  Son  of  God 
shall  bring  forth  to  public  view  all  his  redeemed  ones,  who. 
had  been  long  hidden  in  night  and  dust,  and  shall  present 
them  all  to.God  the  Father  in  his  own  ftnage,  bright  and 
holy,  and  unblemished,  in  the  midst  of  all  the  splendors 
of  the  resurrection  !  0  blessed  and  joyful  voice,  when  he 
shall  say  with  divine  pleasure,  "Here  am  I,  and  the  .chil- 
dren which  thou  hast  given  me  :"  'we  have  both  passed 
through  the  grave,  and  I  have  made  them  all  conquerors 
of  death,  and  vested  them  with  immortality  according  to 
thy  divine  commission  !  Thine  they  were,  0  Father,  and 
thou  hast  given  them  into  my  hands,  and  behold  I  have 
brought  them  all  safe  to  thy  appointed  mansions,  and  I  pre- 
sent them  before  thee  without  spot  or  blemish.' 

And  many  a  parent  of  a  pious  household  in  that  day, 
when  they  shall  see  their  sons  and  their  daughters  around 
them,  all  arrayed  with  the  beams. of  the  Sun  of  righteous 
ness,  shall  echo  with  holy  joy  to  the  voice  of  the  blessed 
Jesus,  "Lord,  here  am  I,  and  the  children  which  thou 
hast  given  me."  <I  was  afraid,  as  Job  once  might  be  when 
his  friends  suggested  this  fear  ;  I  was  afraid  that  my  Chil- 
dren had  .sinned  against  God,  and  he  had  cast  them 
away  for  their  transgression  :  but  I  am  now  convinced, 
when  he  seized  them  from  my  sight,  he  only  took  them 
out  of  the  way  of  temptation  and  danger,  and  concealed 
them  for  a  season  in  his  safe  hiding-place.  I  mourned  in 
the  day-time  for  a  lost  son  or  a  lost  daughter,  and  in  the 
night  my  couch  was  bedewed  with  my  tears.  I  was  scared 
with  midnight  dreams  on  their  account,  and  the  visions  of 
the  grave  terrified  me  because  my  children  were  there.  I 
gave  up  myself  to  sorrow  for  fear  of  the  displeasure  of  my 
God  both  against  them  and  against  me.  But  how  unreasona- 
ble were  thesa  sorrows?  How  groundless  were  my  fears  ? 
How  gloriously  am  I  disappointed  this  blessed  morning  ? 


A  SPEECH  OVER  A  GRAVE.  255 

I  see  my  dear  offspring  called  out  of  that  long  retreat 
where  God  had  concealed  thorn,  and  they  arise  to  meet 
the  divine  call.  I  hear  them  answering  with  joy  to  the 
happy  summons.  My  eyes  behold  them  risen  in  the  image 
of  my  God  and  their  God :  they  are  near  me,  they  stand 
with  me  at  the  right  hand  of  the  Judge  ;  now  shall  we 
rejoice  together  in  the  saritence.of  eternal  blessedness  from 
the  lips  of  my  Lord  and  their  Lord,  my  Redeemer  and 
their  Redeemer.'  */2men. 



*     . 

Arhons  my  papers  I  have  found  a  speech  spoken  at  a  grave,  which  I 
transcribed  almost  fifty  years  a»o,  and  which  deserves  to  be  saved  from 
perishing.  It  was  pronounced  many  years  before  at  the  funeral  of  a  pious 
person,  by  a  minister  there  present,  supposed  to  be  the  Rev.  Mr.  Peter 
Sterry  ;  and  the  subject  of  it  being  suited  to  this  discourse,  I  thought  it  not 
iipproper  to  preserve  it  here. 

"CHRISTIAN  friends,  though  sin  be  entered  inta  the 
world,  and  by  sin  death,  and  so  death  passed  upon  all  men, 
for  that  all.have  sinned  ;  yet  it  seems  not  wholly  suitable 
to  our  Christian  hope,  to  stanu  by  and  see  the  grave  with 
open  mouth  take  in,  and  swallow  down  any  part  of  a  pre- 
cious saint,  and  not  bring  some  testimony  against  the 
devourer..  And  yet  that  our  witness  may  be  in  righteous- 
ness, we  must  first  own,  acknowledge,  and  accept  of  that 
good  and  sorviceableness  that  -is  in  it. 

"For  through  the  death  and  resurrection  of  our  dear 
Redeemer,  death  and  the  grave  are  become  sweetened  to 
us,  and  sanctified  for  us  :  so  that  as  death  is  but  a  sleep,  the 
grave  through  his  lying  down  in  it  and  rising  again,  is  be- 
come as  a  Ij3'l  of  repose  to  them  that  are  in  him,  and  a  safe 
and  quiet  hiding-place  for  his  saints  till  the  resurrection. 

"And  in  tSiis  respt-ct  we  do  for  ourselves,  and  for  this 
our  clearly  beloved  in  the  Lord,  accept  of  thee,  0  grave, 
and  readily -deliver  up  her  body -to  thec;  it  is  a  body  that 
hath  been  weakened  and  wearied  with  long  affliction  and 
anguish,  we  freely  give  it  unto  thee  ;  receive  it,  and  let 
it  have  in  thee  a  quiet  rest  from  all  its  labours;  for  thus 
we  read  it  written  of  thee,  there  the  wicked  cease  from 
troubling,  and  there  the  weary  be  at  rest, 

"Besides,  it  is,  0  grave,  a  body  that  hath  been  sweetly 
embalmed  by  a  virtuous,  pious,  peaceable  conversation,  by 
several  inward  openings  and  outpourings  of  the  spirit  of 
life,  by  much  patience  and  meekness  in  strong  trials  and 


256  A  SPEECH  OVER  A  GRAVE. 

afflictions.  Receive  it,  and  let  it  enjoy  thee,  what  was  once 
deeply  impressed  on  her  own  heart,  and  in  a*  due  season 
written  out  with  her  own  hand;  a  sabbath  in  the  grave  : 
for  thus  also  we  find  it  recorded  of  our  Lord  and  her  Lord, 
that  enjoyed  the  rest  of  his  last  sabhath  in  the  grave. 

"But  we  know  thee/0  grave,  to  be  also  a  devourer, 
and  yet  we  can  freely  deliver  up  the  body  into  thee. 

"  There  was  in  it  a  contracted  corruptibility,  dishonour 
and  weakness  ;  take  them  as  thy  proper  prey,  they  belong 
to  thee,  and  we  would  not  withhold  them  from  thee. 
Freely  swallow  them  up  for  ever,  that  they  may  appear 
no  more. 

"Yet  know,  0  grave,  there  is  in  the  body,  considered 
as  once  united  to  such  a  soul,  a  divine  relation  to  the  Lord 
of  life  ;  and  this  thou  must  not,  thou  canst  not  dissolve*  or 
destroy.  But  know,  and  even  before  thee,  and  over  thee 
be  it  spoken,  that  there  is  a  season  hastening  wherein  we 
shall  expect  it  again  from  thee  in  incorruption,  honour 
and  power. 

"We  now  sow  it  into  thee  in  dishonour,  but  expect  it 
again  returned  from  thee  in  glory;  we  now  sow  it  into 
thee  in  iveakness,  we  expect  it  again  in  power;  we  how 
sow  it  into  thee  a  natural  body,  we  look  for  it  again  from 
thee  a  spiritual  body.  • 

"And  when  thou  hast  fulfilled  that  end  for  which  the 
Prince  of  life,  who  took  thee  captive,  made  thee  to  serve, . 
then  shalt  thou  who  hast  devoured  be  thyself  also  swal- 
lowed up  ;  for  thus  it  is  written  of  thee,  O  death,  I  will 
be  thy  plague,  0  grave,  I  will  be  thy  destruction.  And 
then  we  shall  sing  over  thee  what  also  is  written  of  thee, 
O  death,  where  is  nou>  thy  sting?  O  grave,  where  is 
now  thy  victory  ?  Amen." 

Note.  A  line  or  two  is  altered  in  this  speech,  to  suit  it  more  to  the 
understanding  and  the  sense  of  the  present  age.— WATTS. 


DISCOURSE    XII. 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  PUNISHMENTS  IN  HELL. 
MARK.  ix.  46.  Where  the  Worm  dieth  not,  and  the  Fire  is  not  quenched. 

INTRODUCTION. 

THESE  words  are  a  short  description  of  hall,  by  the 
lips  of  the  Son  of  God,  who  came  down  from  heaven  : 
and  he  who  lay  in  the  bosom  of  his  father,  and  was  inti- 
mate in  all  the  counsels  of  his  mercy  and  justice, /must  be 
supposed  to  know  what  the  terrors  and  the  wrath  of  God 
are,  as  well  as  his  compassion  and  his  goodness. 

It  is  confessed,  that  a  discourse  on  this  dreadful  sub- 
ject is  not  .a  direct  ministration  of  grace  and  the  glad  ti- 
dings of  salvation,  yet  it  has  a  great  and  happy  tendency 
to  the  same  end,  even  the  salvation  of  sinful  men  ;  for  it 
awakens  them  to  a  more  piercing  sight,  and  to  a  more 
keen  sensation  of  their  own  guilt  and  danger  ;  it  possesses 
their  spirits  with  a  mere  lively  sense  of  their  misery,  it 
fills  the:n  with  a  holy  dread  of  divine  punishment,  and  ex- 
cites the  powerful  passion  of  fear  to  make  them  flee  from 
the  wrath  to  come,  and  betake  themselves  to  the  grace  of 
God  revealed  in  the  gospel. 

The  blessed  Saviour  himself.,  who  was  the  most  perfect 
image  of  his  Father's  love,  and  the  prime  minister  of  his 
grace,  publishes  more  of  these  terrors  to  the  world,  ai:d 
preaches  hell  and,  damnation  to  sinners  more  than  all  the 
prophets  or  teachers  that  ever  went  before  him  ;  and 
several  of  the  Apostles  imitate  (heir  Lord  in  this  practice. 
They  kindle  the  flames  of  hell  in  their  cpisLles,  they  thun- 
der through  the  very  hearts  and  consciences  of  men  with 
the  voice  of  damnation  and  eternal  misery,  to  make  stupid 
sinners  feel  as  much  of  these  terrors  in  the  present  pros- 
pect as  is  possible,  in  order  to  escape  the  actual  sensation 
of  them  in  time  to  come. 

33  w  2  257 


258  THE  NATURE  OP  THE 

Such  awful  discourses  are  many  times  also  of  excellent 
use  to  keep  the  children  of  God,  and  the  disciples  of  Je- 
sus, in  a  holy  and  watchful  frame,  and  to  affright  them 
from  returning  to  sin  and  folly,  and  from  the  indulgence 
of  any  temptation,  by  setting  these  terrors  of  the  Lord 
before  their  eye's.  0  may  these  words  of  his  terror,  from 
the  lips  of  one  of  the  meanest  of  his  ministers,  be  attend- 
ed with  divine  power  from  the  convincing  and  sanctify- 
ing Spirit,  that  they  may  answer  these  happy  cods  and 
purposes,  that  they  may  excite  a  solemn  reverence  of  the 
dreadful  majesty  of  God  in  all  our  souls,  and  awaken  us 
to  repentance  for  every  sin,  and  a  more  watchful  course 
oC  holiness  ! 

Let  us  then  consider  the  expression  in  my  text :  When 
our  Saviour  mentions  the  word  '  rrell,'  he  adds,  '  where  the 
worm  dieth  not,  and  the  '  (ire  is  not  quenched' ;'  in  which 
description  we  may  read  the  nature  of  this  punishment, 
and  the  perpetuity  of  it.  N 

First,  We  shall  consider"  fhe  '  nature  of  this  punish- 
ment,' as  it  is  represented  by  the  metaphors  which  .our 
Saviour  uses ;  and  i.f  I  were  to  give  the  most  natural  and 
proper  senss  of  this  representation,  I  would  say  that  our 
Saviour  might  borrow  this  figure  of  speech  from  these 
three  considerations. 

1.  ' Worms'  and  'fire'  are  the  two  most  general  ways 
whereby  the  bodies  of  the  dead  are  destroyed  ;  for  wheth- 
er they  are  buried  or  not  buried,  worms  devour  those 
who,  by  the  custom  of  their  country,  are  not  burnt  with 
fire.     And  perhaps  he  might  refer  to  the  words  of  Isaiah 
Ixvi.  24,  where  the  prophet  seems  to  foretel  the  punish- 
ment of  thoss  who  will  not  receive  the  gospel,  when  it 
shall  be  preached  to  all  nations  :  They,  says  he  (that  is  the 
true   Israel,  tli3  saints  of  God,  or  Christians,)  'they  shall 
go  forth  and  look  upon  the  carcasses  of  the  men  who  have 
transgressed  against  me  ;  for  their  worm  shall  not  die, 
neither  shall  their  fire  be  quenched,  and  ihey  shall  be  an  ah- ' 
horrence  to  all  flesh/   It  is  highly  probable  that  this  is  only 
a  metaphor  referring  to  the  punishment  of  the  souls  of  ob- 
tinate  unbelievers  in  hell  ;  for  it  would  be  but  a  very  small 
punishment  indeed,  if  only  their  dead  bodies  were  de- 
voured by  worms  or  fire,  or  rather  no  punishment  at  alt 
besides  a  memorial  of  their  sin. 

2.  Consider,  the  'gnawing  of  worms'  and  the  'burning 


.   PUNISHMENTS  IN   HELL.  259 

of  fire'  are  some  of  the  most  smart  and  severe  torments 
that  aliving  man  can  feel  in  the  flesh  ;  therefore  the  ven- 
geance of  God,  upon  the  souls  of  obstinate  sinners,  is  set 
forth  by  it  in  our  Saviour's  discourse  ;  and  it  was  probably 
•well  known  amongst  the  Jews,  as  appears  by  some  of  the 
apocryphal  writings;  Judith  xvi.  17,  'Woe  to  the  nation 
that  rises  up  against  my  kindred  ;  the  Lord  Almighty  will 
take  vengeance  of  them  in  the  day  of  judgment,  patting 
fire  and  worms  in  their  flesh,  and  they  shall  feel  them  and 
weep  for  ever.'  And  Eccles.  vii.  16,  17,  'Number  not 
thyself  among  the  multitude  of  sinners,  but  remember  the 
wrath  will  not  tarry  long.  Humble  thy  soul  greatly,  for 
the  vengeance  of  the  ungodly  is  fire^and  wrorms.' 

3.   Consider,  whether  'worms'  feed  upon  a  living  man 
or  devour  his  dead  body,  still  'they  are  such  as" are  bred 
in  his  own  flesh;  but  fire  is  brought  by  other  hands,'  and 
applied,  to  the  flesh:  even  so  this  metaphor  .'of  a  worm' 
happily  represents  the  'inward  torments,'  and  the  'teazing 
and  vexing  passions'  whrch  shall  arise  i:i  the  souls  of  those 
unhappy  creatures,  who  are  the  just  objects  of  this  punish- 
ment; and  it  is*  called  'their  worm,'  that  worm  that  be- 
longs to  them,  and  is  bred  within  them  by  the  foul  vices 
and  diseases  of  their  souls.    -But  the 'fire  which  never 
shall  be  quenched'  refers  rather  to  the  pains  and'anguish 
which  come  'from  without,'  -and  thnt  chiefly  from  the 
.  hand  of  God,  the  righteous  avdnger  of'  sin,  and  from  his 
indignation,  which  is  compared  to  fire. 
•  §  I.     '  The,  worm  that  dicth  not.' 
Let  us  begin  with  the  first  of  these,  viz.  the /torments 
which  are  derived  from  the  gnawing  worm,  those  agonies 
and  uneasy  passions  which  will  arise  and  work  in  the  souls 
of  these  wretched  creatures/  so  far  as  we  can  collect  them 
from  the  word  of  God,  from  the  reason  of  things,  and  the 
working  powers  of  human  nature.  . 

When  an  impenitent  sinner  is  cast  into  hell,  we  have 
abundant  reason  to  suppose,  that  the  evil  temper  of  his 
soul,  and  the  vicious  principles  within  him,  are  not  abated, 
but  his  natural,  powers,  and  the  vices  which  have  tainted 
them  and  mingle  with  them,  are  awakened  and  enraged 
-into  intense  activity  and  exercise,  under  the  first  sensa- 
tions of  his  dreadful  punishment.  Let  us  endeavour  to 
conceive  then  what  would  be  the  ferments,  the  raging 
passions,  and  the  vexing  inward  torments  of  a  wicked 


860  THE  NATURE  OF  THE 

man,  seized  by  the  officers  of  an  almighty  Judge,  borne 
away  by  the  executioners  of  vengeance,  and  plunged  into 
a  pit  of  torture  and  smarting  misery,  while  at  the  same 
time  he  had  a  most  fresh*  and  piercing  conviction  ever  pre- 
sent, that  he  had  brought  all  this  mischief  upon  himself 
by  his  own  guilt  and  folly. 

I.  The  first  particular  piece  of  wretchedness  therefore, 
contained  in  this  metaphor,  is  the  'remorse  and  terrible 
anguish  of  conscience  which  shall  never  be  relieved.'  How 
terrible  are  the  racks  of  a  guilty  conscience  here  on  earth, 
which  arise  from  a  sense  of  past  sins?  How  does  David 
cry  out  and  roar  under  the  disquietude  of  his  spirit?  Psal. 
xxxii.  3,  'While  I  kept  silence'  and  confessed  not  mine 
iniquity,  'my  bones  Waxed  old  through  my  roaring  all 
the  day  long,  day  and  night  thy  hand  was  heavy  upon  me, 
and  my  moisture  is  turned  into  the  drought  of  summer:' 
and  again,'  Psal.  x-xxviii.  4,  'Mine  iniquities  are  gone  over 
mine  head,  as  an  heavy  burden,  they  are  too  heavy  for 
me.'  God  has  wisely  so  framed  the  nature  and  spirit  of 
man,  that  a  reflection  on  his  past  misbehaviour  should 
raise  such  keen  anguish  at  his  heart;  -and  thousands  have 
felt  it  in  a  dreadful  degree,  even  while  they  have  contin- 
ued in  this  world,  in  the  land  of  life  and  hope. 

But  when  death  has  divided  the  soul  from  this  body, 
and  from  all  the  means  of  grace,  and  cut  off  all  the  hopes 
of  pardoning  mercy  forever,  what  smart  beyond"  all  our. 
thoughts  and  expressions  must  the  sinner  feel  from  such 
inward  wounds  of  conscience?     And  it  gives  a  twinging 
accent  to  every  sorrow  when  the  sinner  is  constrained  to. 
cry  out,  'It  is  I,  it  is  I  who  have  brought  all  this  upon 
myself.     Life  and  death  were  set  before  me  in  the  world 
where  once  I  dwelt,  but  I  refused  the  blessings  of  eternal 
life,  and  the  offers  of  saving  grace.     I  turned  my  back 
upon  the  ways' of  holiness  which  led  to  life,  and  renounced 
the  tenders  of  divine  mercy :  I  chose  the  paths  of  sin,  and 
folly,  and  madness,  though  I  knew  they  led  to  everlasting 
misery  and  death.    Wretch  that  I  was,  to  choose  those  sins 
and  these  sorrows,  though  I  knew  they  were  necessarily 
joined  together !     I  am  sent  into  those  regions  of  misery 
which  I  chose  for  myself,  against  all  the  kind  admonitions 
and  warnings  of  God  and  Christ,  of  his  gospel  and  his 
ministers  of  grace !     0  these  cursed  eyes  of  mine,  that  led 
me  into  the  snares  of  guilt  and  folly  !  these  cursed  hands 


PUNISHMENTS  IN  BELT..  261 

that  practised  iniquity -with  .greediness!  these  cursed  lips 
of  mine,  which  dishonoured  my  Maker!  0  these  cursed 
appetites  and  passions,  and  this  obstinate  will,  which  have 
wrought  my  ruin !.  this  cursed  body  and  soul,  that  have 
procured  their  own  everlasting  wretchedness!'  These 
thoughts  will  be  like  a  gnawing  worm  within,  which  will 
prey  upon  the  spirit  forever.  The  fretting  smart  arising 
from  this  vexatious  worm  must  be  painful  in  the  highest 
extreme,  when  we  know  it  is  'a  worm  which  will  never 
die,'  which  will  forever  hang  at  our  heart,  and  gting  our 
vitals  in  the  most  tender-and  sensible  parts  of  them'  with- 
out intermission,  as  well  as  without  end. 

Here  on  earth  the  stings  and  scourges  of  conscience 
meet  with  some  intervals  of  relief,  from  necessary  busi- 
ness which  employs  the  mind,  from  gay  company  which 
diverts  the  hsart,  from  the  refreshment!  of  nature  by  clay, 
or  from  the  sweet  repose  of  returning  night.  But  in  the 
world  to  come  every  hour  shall  be  filled  up  with  these 
cutting  sorrows,  for  there  is  no  season  of  refreshment,  no 
diversion  of  mind,  no  sleeping  there.  A.I1  things  arp  for 
ever  awake,  in  that  world  !  There  are  no  shadows  and 
darkness  to  hide  us  where  this  torment  shall  not  find  us, 
for  it  is  bred  and  lires  within.'  There  is,  no  couch  there 
to  lull  the  conscience  into  soft  repose,  and  to  permit  the 
sufferer  to  fought  his  agonies.  Ancient  crimes  shall  rise 
up  and  stand  forever  before  the  eyes  of  the -sinner  in  all 
their  glaring  forms,  and  all  their  heinous  aggravating  Cir- 
cumstances. Thes3  will  sit  heavy  upon  the  spirit  with 
teazing  and-  eternal-  vexation.  •  0  dreadful  state  of  an  im- 
mortal creature,  which  must  forever  be  its  own  tormentor, 
and  shall  know  no  relief  through  all  'the  ages  of  its  im- 
mortality !  Think  cf  this  bitter  anguish  of  soul,  0  sinner, 
to  guard  thee  from  sin  in  an  hour  of  strong  temptation. 

II.  Anolher  spring  of  this  torment  will  be  the  'over- 
whelming sense  of  an  angry  God,  and  utter  despair  of  his 
love,  which,  is  lost  forever.'  .It  was  the  thought  of  the 
displeasure  of  God,  which  pierced  the  soul  of  David  with 
such  acute  pain,  when  he  remembered  his  sins,  Psal.  li.  3, 
4,  "My  sin- is  ever  before'me:  against  thee,  against  thee 
only  have  I  sinned,  and  done  this  evil  in  tny  sight."  And 
again  he  pleads  with  God,  Psal.  vi.  1,  "0  Lord,  chasten' 
me  not  in  thine  anger,  nor  vex  me  in  thy  sore  displeasure." 
He  could  face  an  host  of  armed  men  without  fear,  but  he 


262  TEE  .NATURE  OF  THE 

could  not  face  an  angry  God,  'whose  loving 'kindness  Is 
life,'  and  the  loss  of  whose  love  is  worse  than  death.  Psal. 
Ixxvii.  3,  "I  remembered  God,"  paid  he,  "and  was  trou- 
bled," i.  e.  "lest  he  should  be  favourable  no  mafe,  and 
shut  up  his  tender  mercies  in  everlasting  anger."  This 
was  the  terror  of  that  good  man,  under  a  deep  sense  of 
his  crimes,  and  of.God  hiding  his  face  from  him,  and  this 
even  while  he  was  in  the' land  of  the  living,  and  was  not 
cast  out  beyond  all  hope. 

But  when  the  grave  shuts  its  mouth  on  the  sinner,  and 
he  is  thrust  out  into  utter  darkness,  where  the  light  of 
God's  countenance  never  shines,  nor  will  shine,  how  in- 
supportable must  such  anguish  be? 

Here  in  this  life  perhaps  a  profane  wretch  has  imagin- 
ed he  could  live  well  enough  'without  God  in  the  world/ 
and  was  content  to  have  nothing  to  do  wi  h  him  in  a  way 
of  worship  or  c.ependence  here.  He  determined' with 
himself,  that  the  less  he  could  think  of  God  the  better,  and 
so  forgot  his  Maker  days  without  number.  But  in  those 
regions  of  hell,  whither  the  sinner  shall  he  driven,  he  can 
never  forget  an  angry  God,  nor  fly  out  of  the  reach  of  his 
terrors. 

<I  am  now  convinced,  saith  he,  but  too  late,  that  hap- 
piness dwells  in  his  presence,  and  rivers  of  pleasures  flow 
at  his  right  hand;  but  this  happiness  I  shall  never  see, 
these  streams  of  pleasure  I  shall  never  taste ;  he  is  gone 
forever  with  all  his  love  and  with  all  his  blessings,  ;God 
is  gone  with  all  his  graces  and  pardons  beyond  my  reach. 
He  stands  afar  off  from  my  groaning  He  told  me  of  it 
heretofore  in  the  ministry  of  his  word  ;  but,  wretch  that  I 
was!  I  would  not  hearken,  I  would  not  believe.  I  was 
invited  by  the  Son  of  his  love  to  receive  IIM  gospel^  and 
to  partake  of  forgiving  mercy  ;  he  stretched  out  his  hands 
with  divine  compassion,  and  offered  to  receiv*  my  soul  to 
his  grace,  and  to  wash  away  my  defilements  with  his  own 
blood ;  he  beseeched  me  to  repent  and  return  to  God,  and 
assured  me  he  would  Secure  his  Father's  favour  to  me, 
and  a  place  among  the  mansions  of  his  glory :  but  cursed 
rebel  that  I  was,  to  despise  this  salvation,  and  resist  the 
offers  of  such  love,  and  to  renounce  such  divine  compas- 
sion !  These  offers  of  mercy  are  forever  finished  ;  I  shall 
never  see  him  more  as  surrounded  with  the  blessings  of 
his  grace,  but  as  the  minister  of  his  Father's  justice,  and 


PUNISHMENTS  IN  HlfLL.  263 

the  avenger  of  his  abused  *nercy.  There  is  no  other  Sa- 
viour, no  other  intercessor,  to  procure  divine  favour  for 
me,  and  my  hopes  are  overwhelmed  •  and  buried  in  the 
eternal  despair  of  his  love.' 

III.  There  \yill  be  found  also  atnong  the  damned,  <a  con- 
stant enmity,  and  malice,  and  hatred  against  the  blessed 
God,  which  can  never  satisfy  nor  ease  itself  by  revenge.' 
It  seems  very  strange  indeed  that  a,  creature  should  design 
revenge  against  his  Maker;  but  thus  it  is  in  these  dismal, 
regions  of  hell.  Every  wicked  man  is  by  nature  at  enmity 
with  God,  and  in  a  stale  of  -rebellion-;  and  when  this  en-' 
mity  is  wrought  up  to  malice,  under  a  sense  pf  his  punish- 
ing hand,  then  arises  that  cursed  and  detestable  desire  in 
the  soul  of  revenging'  itself  against  its  Maker.  The  fallen 
angels,  those  wicked  spirits,  have  found  this  dismal  tem- 
per of  mind  reigning  in  them  :  they  hate  the  blessed  God 
with  intense  malice, -because  his  governing  justice  sees  fit 
to  punish  their  pride  and  other  iniquities,  and  they  would 
fain  be  revenged  of  him  by  destroying  mankind  who  were 
made  after  his  image.  Their  malice  cannot  reach  him  in 
the  heights  of  his  glory  ;  but  they  can  reach  man  his  crea- 
ture made  in  his  likeness,  and  they  began  to  take  their  re- 
venge there  near  six  thousand  years  ago.  All  the  sins,  and  . 
all  the  miseries  of  the  sons  and  daughters  of  Adam,  from 
the  beginning  of  the  \yorld  to  this  clay,  are  owing,  to  this 
madness  of  malice,  this  hatred. of  God* in  the  hearts  of  evil 
angels,  who  \\ere  cast  out  from  heaven  and  the  regions  of 
happiness :  they  began  to  exert  this  malice  early,  and  still 
they  are  everlasting  tempters'  of  men,  in  order  to  avenge 
themselves- upon  a  righteous  God. 

But  alas,  what  a  wretched  satisfaction  must  the  damned 
spirits  of  men  propose  to  themselves  in  s.uch  a  wild  and 
extravagant  attempt?  The  very  name  and  mention  of 
this  iniquity  seems  to  put  our  souls  and  our  ears  to  pain, 
while  we  dwell  in  flesh  and  blood  ;  butas'cursed  and  hate- 
ful a  temper  as  this  is,  it  is  the  very  spirit  and  temper  of 
apostate  angels;  and  this  will  be  thy  temper  and  th}'  spi- 
rit, 0  wilful  and  impenitent  sinner,  when  thou  shalt  have 
obstinately  siniled  thyself  into  damnation,  and  canrt  never 
deliver  thyself  from  the  punishing  hand  of  God. 

Think,  0  my  soul,  at  what  a  dreadful  distance  such 
creatures  must  be  from  every  glimpse  of  peace  and  hap- 
piness, whose  hearts  are  filled  with  such  blasphemy  and 


264  Tim  NATURE  OP  THE 


rage,  and  who  would  be  attempting  such  vain  and  impious 
effort?  of  mingled  insolence  and  madness.  Read,  O  ye 
foolish  and  wilful  trangVessors,  read  the  temper  and  con- 
duct of  devils  in  their  spite  and  opposition  to  every  thing 
of  God,  through  all  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament  and 
the  New,  and  remember  and  think,  that  such  will  your 
temper  be  when  you  also  shall  be  banished,  from  the  pre- 
sence of  God  for  your  wjlful  rebellions,  as  the  fallen  angels 
a,re,  and  be  forever  shut  out  from  all  the  blessings  of  his 
love,  and  all  hope  of  his  favour. 

IV.  A  further  spring  of  continued  torment  is  'such  fix- 
ed and  eternal  hardness  of  heart  as  will  never  be  softened, 
such  impenitence  and  obstinacy  of  soul  which  will  never 
relent  or  submit.'  The  hardest  sinner  here  on  earth  may 
now  and  then  feel  a  relenting  moment,  and  the  most  daring 
Atheist  may  sometimes  have  a  softening  'thought  come 
across  him,  which  may  perhaps  bring.  a  tear  into  his  eyes, 
and  may  form  a  good  wish  or  two  in  his  sou.l,  and  wring 
a  groan  from  his  heart  which  look's  like  repentance  ;  but 
when  we  are  dismissed  from  this  body.,  and  this  state  of 
trial  and  of  hops,  eternal  hardness  seizes  upon  the  mind: 
the  neck  is  like  an  iron  sinew  hardened  more  (if  I  may  so 
express  it)  in  the  fire  of  hell.  The  will  is  fixed  in  ever- 
lasting obstinacy  against  God,  and  against  the  glories  of 
his  holiness.  If  Mos:;S  and  the  prophets,  if  Christ  and 
his  apostles  in  the  ministry  of  the  word,  could  not  soften 
the  heart  of  bold  transgressors,  what  can  be  expected  when 
all  the  means  of  grace  and  the  methods  of  divine  compas- 
sion are  vanished  and  gone  'for  ever? 

It  is  granted  indeed  there  will  bo  bitter  repentance 
among  the  damned  in  hell,  and  inward  vexation  of  soul 
and  self-cursing  in  abundance,  for  having  plunged  them- 
selves into  this  misery,  and  having  abandoned  all  the  of- 
fers of  divine  mercy  :  but  it  will  be  only  such  a  repent- 
ance as  'Judas  the  traitor  felt,  when  'he  repented  and 
hanged  himself.'  This  is  a  sort  of  madness  of  rage  with- 
in them  for  having  made  themselves  miserable.  But  there 
will  be  found  no  hatred  of  the  evil  of  sin,  at  it  is  an  of- 
fence against  God  ;  no  painful  and  relenting"  ssnsa  of  their 
iniquity,  as  it  has  dishonored  God  and  broken  his  law; 
no  such  sorrow  for  sin  as  is  attended  with  an  hearty  aver- 
sion to  it,  and  a  desire  to  love  God  and  obey  him  ;  but 


PUNISHMENTS  IN   HELL.  265 

rather  they  will  feel  and  nourish  a  growing  aversion  to 
God  and  his  holiness. 

Ask  yourselves,  my  young  friends,  did  you  never  feel 
your  hearts  indulging  an  angry  and  unrelenting  mood, 
and  stubborn  in  your  wrath  against  a  superior  who  had 
sharply  reproved  you  ?  Or  have  you  never  felt  an  obstinate 
and  unreconcileable  hour  in  your  younger  years,  even 
against  a  parent  who  had  severely  corrected  you  ?  Or  have 
you  not  found,  at  some  seasons,  your  soul  rising  and  kind- 
ling into  violent  resentment  and   a   revengeful   temper 
against  your  neighbour  upon  some  supposed  affront,  damage, 
or  mischief  he  had  done  you  ?  Call  these  unhappy  minutes 
to  mind,  and  learn  what  hell  is.  Think  into  what  a  wretch- 
ed case  you  would  be  plunged,  if  this  wrath  and  stub- 
bornness, this  enmity  and  hardness  should  become  immortal 
and  unchangeable,  though  it  were  but  against  a  neighbour. 
But  if  this  obstinacy  and  stubborn  hardness  of  soul  were 
bent  against  God  himself,  so  that  you  would  never  relent, 
never  sincerely  repent  of  your  crimes,  nor  bow,  nor  melt, 
nor  yield  either  to  his  majesty  or  his  mercy,  what  would 
you  think  of  yourselves  and  of  your  state?    Would  you 
not  be  wretched  and  horrible  creatures  indeed,  without 
the  least  reason  to  hope  for  favour  and  compassion  at  his 
hands  ?  Such  is  the  case  probably  of  every  damned  sinner. 
Amazing  scene  of  complicated  misery  and  rebellion !   a 
guilty  spirit  which    cannot   repent!    a   rebellious   spirit 
which  cannot  submit,  even  to  God  himself!  a  hardened 
soul  that  cannot  bend  nor  yield  to  its  Maker !    Must  not 
such  a  wretch  be  for  ever  the  object  of  its  own  inward 
torment,  as  well  as  of  divine  punishment  ?  0  the  hopeless 
and  dreadful  state  of  every  bold  transgressor,  that  is  gone 
down  to  death  without  true  repentance  ;  for  sincere  and 
true  repentance  for  having  offended  God,  and  ingenuous 
relentings  of  heart  for  sin  are  never  found  in  those  regions 
of  future  misery  :  no  kindly  meltings  of  soul  toward  God 
are  ever  known  there. 

V.  There  will  be  also  'intense  sorrow  and  wild  impa- 
tience at  the  loss  of  present  comforts,  without  any  recom- 
pence,  and  without  any  relief.'  If  this  world,  0  sinful 
creature,  with  the  riches,  or  the  honours,  or  the  pleasures  of 
it  be  all  thy  chosen  happiness,  what  universal  grief  and 
vexation  will  overspread  all  the  powers  of  thy  nature> 
when  thou  shalt  be  torn  away  from  them  all,  even  from 
34  X 


266  THE  NATURE  OP  THE 

all  thy  happiness  by  death,  and  have  nothing  come  in  the 
room  of  them,  nothing  to  relieve  thy  piercing  grief, 
nothing  to  divert  or  amuse  this  vexation,  nothing  to  soothe 
or  ease  this  eternal  pain  at  the  heart. 

And  yet  further,  when  thou  shalt  be  as  the  Prophet 
speaks,  '  like  a  wild  bull  in  a  net/  struggling  and  tossing 
to  and  fro  to  free  thyself  on  all  sides,  when  thou  shalt  be 
racked  with  inward  fretfulncss  and  impatience,  and  'full 
of  the  fury  of  the  Lord'  that  made  thee,  and  the  'rebuke 
of  that  God'  that  punishes  thee,  Isai.  li.  20,  then  shall 
thy  heart,  hard  as  it  is  in  an  obstinate  course  of  sin,  be 
ready  to  burst  and  break,  not  with  penitence,  but  madness 
and  overswelling  sorrows  :  and  yet  it  must  not  break  nor 
dissolve,  but  will  remain  firm  and  hard  forever  to  suffer 
these  pangs.  This  is  and  must  be  an  eternal  head-ache, 
for  there  are  no  broken  hearts  in  heil  in  any  sense  what- 
soever. There  th6  eyes  are  weeping,  and  the  hands  are 
wringing,  and  the  tongue  almost  dried  with  long  wailings 
and  outcries,  and  the  teeth  gnashing  with  madness  of  thought : 
this  is  our  Saviour's  frequent  representation  of  hell,  'there 
shall  be  weeping,  and  wailing,  and  gnashing  of  teeth  ;'  and 
yet  the  heart  ever  living  and  ever  obstinate,  to  supply  fresh 
springs  of  these  sorrows,  and  to  feel  the  anguish  of  them  all. 

VI.  There  will  be  also  ( raging  desires  of  ease  and  plea- 
sure which  shall  never  be  satisfied,  together  with  perpetual 
disappointment  and  endless  confusion  thrown  upon  all  their 
schemes  and  their  efforts  of  hope.'  It  is  the  nature  of  man, 
while  it  continues  in  being,  that  it  must  desire  happiness, 
and  make  some  efforts  towards  it  :  and  some  divines  have 
supposed,  that  men  of  wicked  sensuality  and  luxury  in 
this  world,  have  so  drenched  their  souls  in  fleshly  appetite 
by  indulging  their  lusts,  and  placing  their  chief  satisfaction 
and  happiness  therein,  that  they  will  carry  this  very  temper 
of  sensuality  with  them  into  the  world  of  spirits  ;  and  it 
is  possible  their  raging  appetites  to  this  sensual  happiness, 
may  be  increased  while  there  are  no  objects  to  gratify 
them.  Now  if  this  be  the  case,  it  must  be  intense  and  con- 
stant misery  to  feel  eternal  hunger  with  no  bread  to  relieve 
it;  keen  desire  of  dainties  with  no  luxurious  dishes  to 
please  their  humourous  taste  ;  eternal  thirst  without  one 
drop  of  wine  or  water  to  allay  or  cool  it ;  eternal  fatigue 
and  weariness  without  power  to  sleep,  and  eternal  lust  of 
pleasure  without  any  hope  of  gratification. 


PUNISHMENTS  IN    HELL.  267 

But  if  we  should  suppose  these  sensualities  die  together 
with  the  body,  yet  this  is  certain,  the  soul  will  have  ever- 
lasting appetites  of  its  own,  i.  e.  the  general  desire  of  ease 
and  happiness,  and  of  some  satisfying  good :  but  God, 
who  is  the  only  true  source  of  happiness  to  spirits,  the 
only  satisfying  portion  of  souls,  itf  forever  departed  and 
gone ;  and  thus  the  natural  appetite  of  felicity  will  be  ever 
wakeful  and  violent  in  damned  spirits,  while  every  at- 
tempt or  hope  to  satisfy  it  will  meet  with  perpetual  dis- 
appointment. 

Milton,  our  English  poet,  has  represented  this  part  of 
the  misery  of  devils  in  a  beautiful  manner.  He  supposes, 
that  ever  since  they  tempted  man  to  sin  by  the  forbidden 
tree  of  knowledge,  they  are  once  a  year  changed  into  the 
form  of  serpents,  and  brought  by  millions  into  a  grove 
of  such  trees,  with  the  same  golden  appearance  of  fruit 
upon  them  :  and  while  with  eager  appetite  they  seize  those 
fair  appearances  to  allay  their  thirst  and  hunger,  instead 
of  fruit  they  chew  nothing  but  bitter  ashes,  and  reject  the 
hateful  taste  with  spattering  noise  ;  and  still  they  repeat 
their  attempts  with  shameful  disappointment,  till  they  are 
vexed,  are  tormented,  and  torn  with  meagre  famine,  and 
then  are  permitted  to  resume  the  shape  of  devils  again.* 
And  why  may  we  not  suppose,  that  the  crimes  of  which 
the  wicked  children  of  men  have  been  guilty  in  the  pre- 
sent life,  may  be  punished  with  some  such  kind  of  pain 
and  confusion,  both  of  body  and  soul,  as  is  here  repre- 
sented in  this  poetic  emblem  or  parable  ? 

VII.  Another  misery  of  damned  creatures  is,  that  'vex- 
ing envy  which  arises  against  the  saints  in  glory,  and 
which  shall  never  be  appeased  or  gratified.'  The  blessed 
in  heaven  shall  be  forever  blessed,  and  the  envy  of  devils 
and  damned  souls  shall  never  hurt'  their  felicity,  nor  see 
their  joys  diminished.  This  vile  passion  of  those  cursed 
spirits  therefore  against  the  blessed  inhabitants  of  heaven, 
though  it  rage  never  so  high,  is  only  preying  upon  their 
own  hearts,  and  increasing  their  own  inward  anguish. 

Let  us  imagine  how  many  thousand  holy  souls  are  ar- 
rived safe  at  paradise,  who  were  surrounded  with  mean  and 
low  circumstances  here  upon  earth,  while  their  haughty 
lords,  and  their  rich  insolent  neighbours,  have  sinned 


*  See  Paradise  Lott,  Book  X.  v.  504— 584.— ED. 


268  THE  NATURE   OF  THE 

themselves  into  hell :  and  do  you  think  those  children  of 
pride  can  ever  bear  this  sight  without  envy  ?  How  many 
martyrs  have  ascended  to  glory  from  racks,  and  tortures, 
and  fires,  here  upon  earth,  while  their  bloody  and  cruel 
persecutors  have  been  working  out  their  own  damnation 
by  these  inhuman  acts  of  murder  and  cruelty  ?  And  will 
not  these  wretches,  under  their  righteous  sufferings  and 
punishments  in  hell,  envy  the  creatures  whom  they  have 
scorned,  and  oppressed,  and  murdered  here  on  earth,  when 
they  shall  see  them  placed  on  high  seats  in  the  kingdom 
of  heaven,  and  themselves  cast  into  utter  darkness  ? 

And  what  does  all  this  envy  do  but  increase  their  own 
wretchedness  ?  They  are  distracted  with  pride  and  rage, 
to  think  of  these  high  favours  of  the  blessed  God  bestowed 
on  creatures  whom  they  treated  once  with  utmost  disdain. 
But  their  envy,  like  a  viper,  preys  upon  their  own  en- 
trails, and  shall  never  be  allayed  or  made  easy.  They 
send  a  thousand  curses  up  to  the  heavenly  world  ;  but  the 
saints  are  forever  secured  in  happiness,  under  the  eye  of 
God  their  heavenly  Father,  and  the  care  of  Jesus  their 
almighty  Friend. 

0  what  a  painful  plague  must  this  envy  be,  when  with 
all  her  envenomed  whips  and  stings  she  does  but  scourge 
and  torment  the  heart  where  she  dwells  ?  What  an  un- 
speakable torture  must  it  be  to  feel  this  envy  so  violent 
and  so  constant,  that  it  gives  itself  no  ease  through  ever- 
lasting ages  ?  Who,  that  dwells  in  flesh  and  blood,  can 
conceive  or  express  the  horror  and  the  twinging  agonies 
that  arise  from  such  a  hateful  passion,  fermenting  and 
raging  through  all  the  powers  of  the  soul  ? 

VIII.  The  last  thing  I  shall  mention,  as  part  of  those 
punishments  of  hell  which  affect  the  spirit,  is  a  'perpetual 
expectation  and  dread  of  new  and  increasing  punishments 
without  end;'  and  it  is  highly  probable,  that  this  shall  be 
the  portion  of  multitudes.  When  the  souls  of  the  saints 
are  released  by  death,  and  arrive  at  the  blessed  regions, 
they  are  not  vested  with  all  their  brightest  glories  in  a 
moment,  nor  fixed  in  .the  highest  point  of  knowledge  and 
happiness  at  their  first  entrance  ;  but  as  their  knowledge 
and  their  love  increases,  so  their  capacities  are  enlarged  to 
take  in  new  scenes  and  new  degrees  of  pleasure,  and  it  is 
probable  that  their  felicities  shall  be  ever  increasing.  And 
in  the  same  manner,  it  is  not  unlikely,,  that  the  increasing 


PUNISHMENTS  IN    HELL.  269 

sins,  the  growing  wickedness,  and  mad  rebellion  of  damned 
spirits,  may  bring  upon  them  new  judgments  and  more 
weighty  vengeance.  So  it  was  with  Pharaoh  the  Egyptian 
tyrant,  when  he  remained  obstinate  and  rebellious  against 
the  messages  of  God  by  Moses,  even  while  he  and  his 
nation  lay  under  smarting  scourges  of  the  Almighty  : 
how  did  his  plagues  increase  with  his  iniquities  ?  And  he 
may  be  set  before  us  as  an  emblem  of  sinners,  and  their 
sufferings,  under  the  wrath  of  God  in  hell,  as  in  Rom. 

O     '  ' 

ix.  17,  18. 

Or  perhaps  as  the  wicked  of  this  world  when  they  die, 
have  left  evil  and  pernicious  examples  behind  them,  or 
have  corrupted  the  morals  of  their  neighbours  by  their 
enticements,  or  their  commands,  or  by  their  wicked  in- 
fluence of  any  kind,  so  their  punishment  may  be  increas- 
ed in  proportion  to  the  lasting  effects  of  their  vile  example, 
or  their  vicious  influences.  And  perhaps,  too,  there  are 
none  among  all  the  ranks  of  the  damned,  whose  souls  will 
be  filled  so  high  with  the  dread  and  horror  of  increasing 
woes,  as  lewd  and  profane  writers,  profane  and  immoral 
princes,  or  cruel  persecutors  of  religion.  Jeroboam,  the 
king,  not  only  sinned  himself  grievously,  but  'made  Israel 
to  sin,'  as  the  scripture  frequently  expresses  it  with  an 
emphasis,  by  setting  up  the  idolatry  of  calves  in  the  land, 
1  Kings  xiv,  and  xv,  and  xvi.  His  ghost  stood  fair  for 
such  an  increase  of  torment  from  age  to  age,  as  his  idolatry 
prevailed  further  in  the  land.  And  all  the  wanton  poets 
and  the  vile  persecutors,  whether  of  heathen  or  of  Chris- 
tian name,  whose  writings,  whose  example,  or  whose 
laws  have  conveyed' and  propagated  their  wickedness  from 
age  to  age  after  their  decease,  will  be  some  of  these  wretch- 
ed expectants  of  new  and  increasing  punishment. 

Have  a  care,  0  ye  witty  and  ye  mighty  sinners!  have 
a  care  of  setting  vile  temptations  and  bad  examples  be- 
fore the  men  of  your  age  !  have  a  care  of  spreading  the 
contagion  of  your  vices  around  you,  by  the  softness  and 
the  force  of  your  allurements  !  have  a  care  of  establish- 
ing iniquity  by  a  law,  and  propagating  loose  and  wicked 
opinions,  or  of  encouraging  persecution  for  conscience- 
sake  !  Take  heed  lest  the  cursed  influence  of  your  crimes 
should  descend  from  generation  to  generation  among  the 
living,  long  after  you  are  dead,  and  should  call  for  new  and 
sharper  strokes  from  the  punishing  hand  of  the  Almighty? 


270  THE  NATURE  OF 

But  suppose  there  were  nothing  else  but  the  long  dread- 
ful view  of  the  eternity  of  their  present  miseries,  with 
an  everlasting  despair  of  case  or  deliverance,  this  would 
add  unspeakably  to  their  torment:  The  constant  sensation 
of  what  they  feel  now,  and  the  dread  of  what  they  must 
feel,  is  sufficient  to  make  their  wretchedness  intolerable. 

If  all  these  springs  of  misery,  which  I  have  already 
mentioned,  are,  and  will  be  found  in  the  souls  of  damned 
sinners,  there  is  no  need  of  more  to  make  them  exquisitely 
miserable :  and  yet,  since  their  bodies  shall  be  raised  from 
the  dust,  in  order  to  be  joined  with  their  souls  in  punish- 
ment, as  they  were  united  in  sin,  why  may  we  not  sup- 
pose, that  the  great  God  will  create  bodies  for  them  of  such 
an  unhappy  mould  and  contexture,  as  shall  be  another  per- 
petual source  of  pain  and  anguish  ?  What  if  their  bodies 
shall  be  raised  with  all  the  seeds  of  disease  in  them,  like  the 
gout  or  the  stone,  or  any  more  smarting  malady  ?  And 
what  if  the  smart  of  these  bodily  distempers  should  min- 
gle with  the  raging  passions  of  the  mind,  as  far  as  it  is  con- 
sistent with  immortality  and  everlasting  duration  ?  Who 
can  say,  that  when  God  exerts  *  his  power  and  makes  his 
wrath  known,'  in  punishing  obstinate,  rebellious,  and  im- 
penitent sinners,  as  Rom.  ix.  he  will  not  frame  such  bodies 
for  them  to  dwell  in,  as  shall  be  a  hateful  burden,  and  an 
incessant  plague  to  them  through  all  ages  of  their  duration  ? 
And  perhaps  these  bodily  pains  may  be  also  included  in  the 
metaphor  of  a  'gnawing'  worm  bred  within  them,  'which 
shall  never  die,'  which  shall  never  cease  to  fill  them  with 
grievous  anguish. 

Here  perhaps,  it  may  be  enquired,  are  there  not  multi- 
tudes of  men  in  this  world,  who   are  not  sinners  of  the 
grosser  kind,  but  have  lived,  in  the  main,  in  the  practice 
of  the  common  social 'duties,  and  have  maintained  the 
usual  forms  of  religion,  according  to  the  outward  rules  of 
the  gospel,  and  the  custom  of  their  nation,  but  they  have 
been  negligent  indeed  of  any  sincere  repentance  towards 
God,  and  have  been  strangers  to  inward  vital  religion 
throughout  their  whole  course  ?     Shall  these  creatures, 
who  seem  to  stand  in  a  sort  of  indifferent  character,  who 
are  outwardly  blameless,  with  regard  to  common  morality, 
and  have  exercised  the  common  virtues  of  justice  and  be- 
nevolence   towards  their    fellow-creatures,    perhaps   un- 
der the  influences  of  education  or  custom,  or  perhaps  by 


PUNISHMENTS  IN  HELL.  271 

the  effect  that  reason  or  philosophy,  or  other  inward  fears, 
have  had  toward  the  restraint  of  their  passions  and  appe- 
tites ;  I  say,  shall  such  sort  of  creatures  as  these  be  filled 
-with  those  furies  of  rage  and  resentment  against  God,  en- 
vy and  malice  toward  their  fellow-sinners,  and  all  the  vile 
and  unsociable  passions  in  these  regions  of  misery,  which 
-they  have  never  found  working  in  them  here  on  earth,  or 
but  in  a  low  degree  ?  Shall  all  the  torments  and  inward 
anguish  of  soul  that  you  have  been  describing,  fall  upon 
this  rank  of  sinners,  whom  the  eye  of  the  world  could  hard- 
ly distinguish  from  good  men,  and  who  were  very  far 
from  the  character  of  wicked  ? 

I  <•  answer,'  1st,  that  however  there  may  seem  to  be 
three  sorts  of  persons  in  our  esteem,  viz.  the  good,  the 
bad,  and  the  indifferent,  yet  the  word  of  God  seems  to  ac- 
knowledge but  two  sorts,  viz.  'Those  who  fear  God  and 
serve  him,  and  those  who  fear  him  not,'  Mai.  iii.  18,  those 
who  have  acted  from  principles  of  inward  religion,  or  the 
love  of  Gcd,  and  those  who  had  no  such  principle  within 
them  :  and  therefore  the  scripture  reveals  and  declares  but 
two  sorts  of  states  in  the  future  world,  viz.  that  of  '  re- 
wards and  punishments,'  or  that  of  '  happiness  and  mis- 
ery :'  and,  as  God  the  righteous  Judge  is  intimately  ac- 
quainted with  all  the  secret  principles  and  workings  of 
every  heart,  he  alone  knows  who  have  practised  virtue 
sincerely  from  pious  principles,  and  who  have  had  ao  such 
principles  within  them.  He  well  distinguishes  who  they 
are  that  have  complied  with  the  rules  of  the  dispensation 
under  which  they  have  lived,  or  who  have  not  complied 
with  it :  and  such  as  may  have  the  good  esteem  of  men 
may  be  highly  offensive  to  God,  who  knows  all  things, 
and  may  be  worthy  of  his  final  punishment.  *  The  Judge 
of  the  whole  earth  will  do  right'* 

*  It  has  been  the  opinion  of  some  writers  in  oldei'  and  in  later  times, 
that  the  vast  numbers  of  indifferent  persons  who  have  neither  been  evident- 
ly holy  nor  evidently  wicked,  shall  be  sent  to  a  new  state  of  trial  in  the 
other  world;  but  I  can  find  nothing  of  this  doctrine  in  the  Bible,  nor  any 
hint  of  it,  unless  in  that  obscure  text  of  St>  Peter,  1  Episk  ch.  iii.  1 9,  where 
Christ  is  said  '  to  go  and  preach  to  the  spirits'  of  those  Dinners  who  were 
drowned  in  the  flood  of  .AV/n/i,  which  may  be  construed  to  another  sense 
with  truth  and  justice. — WATTST* 

The  true  sense  of  this  passage  is  clearly  given  by  Henry,  Scott,  Doddridge, 
Clarke,  and  other  commentators,  which  the  reader  can  consult  at  his  conve- 
nience. I  shall  here  subjoin  Macnight's  view  of  the  passage,  in  which  he 


272  THE  NATURE  OF  THE 

And  since  he  has  declared  it  to  be  his  rule  of  judgment, 
that  he  will  reward  every  one  according  to  their  works, 
and  it  shall  be  much  more  tolerable  for  some  of  those 
creatures  than  it  shall  be  for  others,  by  reason  of  their  les- 
ser crimes,  or  their  nearer  approaches  to  virtue  and  pietyj 
so  it  is  certain  he  will  act  in  perfect  justice  and  equity  to- 
wards every  criminal,  and  none  shall  be  punished  above 
their  demerits,  though  no  impenitent  sinner  shall  go 
unpunished. 

We  do  not,  therefore,  imagine,  that  every  condemned 
criminal  shall  have  the  same  degree  of  inward  raging  pas- 
sions, the  same  madness  and  fury  against  God  and  their 
fellow-creatures,  nor  the  same  anguish  of  conscience  as 
those  who  have  been  more  grossly  and  obstinately  wicked 
and  vicious,  and  have  wilfully  refused  and  renounced  the 
well  known  offers  of  grace  and  salvation.  There  are  in- 
numerable degrees  of  inward  punishment  and  pain,  accor- 
ding to  the  degrees  of  sin. 

tdtisw.  2.  It  should  be  added  too,  that  that  world  of 
punishment  is  also  a  world  of  increasing  wickedness,  and 
those  that  have  had  some  natural  virtues,  and  some  appear- 
ances of  goodness  here,  may  and  will  renounce  it  all  in 
the  world  to  come,  where  they  find  themselves  punished 
for  their  impenitence  and  irreligion,  and  their  criminal  neg- 
lect of  God  and  godliness  :  and  the  least  and  the  lightest 
of  the  punishments  of  damned  souls  will  be  terrible  enough, 

briefly  and  clearly  expresses  the  opinion  common  to  the  great  body  of  pro- 
testant  divines  and  expositors. — "  Christ  is  said,  by  the  same  Spirit  who 
made  him  alive,  to  have  preached  to  the  antediluvians,  because  his  Spirit  in- 
spired Noah  to  preach  to  them,  as  is  plain  from  Gen.  vi.  3.  '  My  Spirit  shall 
not  always  strive  with  man.'  Hence  Noah  is  called  '  a  preacher  of  righte- 
ousness,' 2  Pet.  ii.  5.  By  attributing  the  preaching  of  (he  ancient  prophets 
to  Christ,  the  apostle  hath  taught  us,  that  from  the  beginning  the  economy 
of  man's  redemption  hath  been  under  the  direction  of  Christ.  According- 
ly the  same  apostle  hath  expressly  affirmed,  1  Pet.  i.  11.  that  the  Spirit 

who  was  in  the  ancient  prophets  was  the   Spirit  of  Christ Eph. 

ii.  15 — 17.  '  Having  abolished,'  &c. '  and  came  and  preached  peace  to  you 
who  were  afar  off,  and  to  them  who  were  nigh.'  [Now]  it  is  certain,  that 
our  Lord,  after  his  resurrection,  did  not  go  personally  to  the  Gentiles  to 
preach  peace  to  them  :  he  preached  to  them  by  his  apostles  only.  But  if 
Christ  is  said  by  Paul  to  go  and  do,  what  he  did  by  his  apostles,  he  may 
with  equal  propriety  be  said  by  Peter,  to  go  and  do  what  he  did  by  his 
prophet  Noah.  ....  [The  antediluvians]  were  men  on  earth  in  the  flesh 
when  Christ  preached  to  them  by  his  Spirit  speaking  in  Noah ;  but  they  an 
now  '  spirits  in  prison,'  detained  like  the  fallen  angels,  (Jude  6,)  '  unto  th* 
judgment  of  the  great  day.' — ED. 

•     .  i 


PUNISHMENTS   IN  HELL.  273 

and  yet  not  surpass  the  desert  of  their  offences.  They 
have  been  all  in  greater  or  less  degrees,  treasuring  up  food 
for  this  immortal  worm,  and  fuel  /or  this  fire,  which  is  un- 
quenchable. 

Besides,  it  may  be  added  here,  that  in  threatenings  the 
Holy  Scripture  generally  expresses  them  in  their  highest 
degrees,  and  most  formidable  appearances,  on  purpose  to 
secure  men  from  coming  near  the  peril  and  border  of  them. 

This  shall  suffice  to  explain  the  first  part  of  the  meta- 
phor in  my  text,  i.  e.  *  The  worm  that  dieth  not.' 

§  II.    The.  fire,  shall  not  be  quenched. 

I  proceed  now  to  consider  the  second  part  of  the  de- 
scription of  hell  in  the  nature  of  it,  as  it  is  represented  by 
our  Saviour,  and  that  is,  that  'the  fire  is  never  quenched.' 

Fire  signifies  the  medium  or  instrument  of  torture 
from  without,  which  God  has  threatened  to  employ  in  the 
punishment  of  guilty  creatures,  even  as  the  gnawing  worm 
signifies  their  inward  torment.  Fire  applied  to  the  sensi- 
ble and  tender  parts  of  the  flesh,  gives  the  sharpest  pain 
of  any  thing  that  comes  within  our  common  notice,  and  it 
is  used  in  scripture  to  signify  the  punishments  of  damned 
sinners,  and  the  wrath  of  God  in  the  world  to  come.  And 
perhaps  that  text  is  the  foundation  of  it,  Isa.  xxx.  last  verse, 
*  Tophet  is  ordained  of  old,  he  has  made  it.  deep  and  large, 
the  pile  thereof  is  fire  and  much  wood,  and  the  breath  of 
the  Lord,  like  a  stream  of  brimstone,  doth  kindle  it.'  This 
Tophet  was  a  place  in  the  valley  of  Hinnom,  where  chil- 
dren were  wont  to  be  burnt  in  sacrifice  to  the  idol  Moloch; 
and  from  these  Hebrew  words,  hell  in  the  New  Testament 
is  called  Geenna,  because  of  the  burning  torture  and  the 
terrible  shrieks  of  dying  children  in  the  valley  of  Hin- 
nom. 

This  description  of  Hell  by  fire  is  used  by  our  Saviour 
and  his  Apostles,  in  their  speeches  and  writings  on  this 
subject.  Hell-fire  is  mentioned  six  times  in  six  verses 
where  my  text  lies ;  the  last  sentence  of  judgment  passed 
upon  sinners,  as  it  is  represented  by  our  Saviour,  is  ex- 
pressed in  the  same  language,  Matt,  xxv,  'Depart,  ye  curs- 
ed, into  everlasting  fire.'  The  Apostle  Paul,  speaking  of 
the  return  of  Christ,  2  Thess.  i.  8,  asserts  that  '  he  shall  ap- 
pear in  flaming  fire,  to  take  vengeance  on  them  that  know 
not  God,  and  that  obey  not  the  gospel  :'  and  in  Rev.  xiv. 
1Q,  11,  as  well  as  in  other  parts  of  this  book,  the  final  pun- 
35 


274  THE  NATURE  OP  THE 

ishment  of  sinners  is  represented  by  'fire  and  brimstone/ as 
the  instruments  of  their  torment. 

It  is  true  indeed,  spirits  or  beings  which  have  no  body 
cannot  feel  burning  by  material  fire,  unless  they  are  united 
to  some  sort  of  material  vehicles  ;  but  that  God  will  use 
material  fire,  to  punish  obstinate  and  rebellious  sinners 
hereafter  at  the  resurrection,  is  not  improbable,  though  it 
is  very  hard  to  say  with  full  assurance.  Since  the  bodies 
of  the  wicked  are  to  be  raised  again,  it  is  not  at  all  unlike- 
ly that  their  habitation  shall  be  a  place  of  fire,  and  their 
bodies  may  be  made  immortal  to  endure  the  smart  and  tor- 
ture without  consuming.  Did  not  this  God,  by  his  almighty 
power  and  mercy,  preserve  the  bodies  of  Shadrach,  Mesh- 
ech,  and  Abednego,  in  the  burning  furnace  of  Nebuchad- 
nezzar, so  that  the  fire  had  no  power  to  consume  .or  des- 
troy them?  and  cannot  his  power  do  the  same  thing  un- 
der the  influence  of  his  justice  as  well  as  of  his  mercy  ? 
May  they  not  be  maintained  forever  in  their  existence  to 
endure  the  appointed  and  deserved  vengeance  ?  If  the 
blessed  God  has  '  with  much  long-suffering  borne  with 
these  vessels  of  wrath,'  under  their  repeated  oppositions 
to  his  law  and  gospel,  and  they  still  go  on  in  their  vice, 
obstinacy  and  impenitence,  and  have  '  fitted  themselves 
for  destruction,'  surely  he  will  '  mate  his  wrath  and  power 
kftown'  in  their  punishment,  as  St.  Paul  expresses  it, 
Rom.  ix,  and  when  the  power  and  wrath  of  God  unite  to 
punish  a  creature,  how  miserable  must  that  creature  be  ? 

It  is  certain,  that  God  has  been  pleased  in  his  word  fre- 
quently to  make  use  of  Jire,  brimstone,  burning,  smoke, 
darkness,  and  chains,  and  every  thing  that  is  painful  and 
noisome  to  nature  on  earth,  in  order  to  represent  the 
miseries  that  he  has  prepared  for  sinners  in  hell  :  and  we 
must  suppose  that  all  these  metaphors,  if  they  are  but 
mere  metaphors,  carry  with  them  a  sense  of  most  intense 
pain  and  anguish  with  which  God  will  afflict  the  bodies,  as 
well  as  the  spirits  of  those  guilty  creatures,  who  have  re- 
belled against  his  majesty,  rejected  his  mercy,  and  exposed 
themselves  to  his  indignation.  But  what  particular  instru- 
ments and  methods  of  punishment,  what  other  elements 
or  means  of  torture  the  great  God  will  make  use  of  to 
execute  his  sentence  in  this  tremendous  work,  is  more 
than  we  can  now  declare,  because  God  has  not  fully  de- 
clared it.  And  I  pray  God  none  of  us  may  be  ever 


PUNISHMENTS  IN   HELL.  275 

doomed  to  learn  it  by  terrible  experience.  But  if  there 
be  nothing  but  fire,  the  anguish  will  be  intolerable,  as  one 
of  our  poets  expresses  it, 

In  liquid  burning^  or  on  dry,  to  dwell, 
Is  all  the  sad  variety  of  hell. 

Or  what  if  the  Almighty,  who  has  all  nature,  with  all 
its  powers,  at  his  command,  should  employ  other  material 
instruments  for  the  execution  of  his  deserved  wrath? 
What  if  he  should  choose  the  alternate'  extremes  of  fire 
and  frost,  as  some  have  imagined,  to  torment  those  impeni- 
tent criminals  ?  Or  what  if  the  creatures  which  they  have 
abused  to  their  impious  and  brutish  purposes,  should  be 
made  instruments  and  mediums  of  their  punishment  ? 
Wine  may  be  rendered  a  frequent  means  of  sickness,  ago- 
ny and  pain  to  the  drunkard,  and  meat  and  other  dainties 
to  the  glutton,  and  gold  to  the  covetous  wretches  who 
made  gold  their  god,  that  they  may  all  remember  their 
crimes  and  their  sufferings.  The  wisdom  of  God  will 
execute  the  sentence  of  his  justice  in  the  most  honoura- 
ble manner. 

And  after  all,  if  we  call  away  our  thoughts  from  fire, 
and  every  material  instrument  of  pain,  which  the  great 
God  may  employ  in  punishing  obstinate  rebels,  and  sur- 
vey only  those  acute  and  dreadful  impressions  of  horror 
and  anguish,  which  a  just  and  holy  God  may  make  on  sin- 
ful spirits  in  an  immediate  manner  in  hell,  this  would 
overwhelm  our  souls  with  insupportable,  agonies.  '  Who 
knows  the  power  of  thine  anger-?  For  according  to  thy 
fear,  so  is  thy  wrath/  says  Moses,  Psal.  xc.  Our  fears  do 
not  rise  above  those  evils  which  the  wrath  of  God  will  in- 
flict- WTho  knows  what  are  those  arrows  of  the  Almigh- 
ty, of  which  Job  speaks,  '  the  poison  whereof  drank  up 
his  spirits,  and  those  terrors  of  God  which  set  themselves 
in  array  against  him  ?'  Who  knows  what  our  Saviour 
felt  in  the  hour  of  his  agony  and  atonement  for  our  sins, 
which  made  him  sweat  drops  of  blood  ?  And  what  sort 
of  terrible  impressions  God  himself  may  make  of  his  own 
wrath  and  vengeance,  on  the  heart  of  such  criminals  as 
wilfully  reject  his  salvation,  is  beyond  our  thoughts  to 
conceive,  or  our  language  to  express. 

This  much  shall  suffice  concerning  the  metaphor  of  fire, 
and  the  hand  of  God  himself  in  kindling  this  fire  for  the 
execution  of  his  sentence  against  impenitents.  But  since 


276  THE  NATURE  OP  THE 

I  have  entered  so  far  into  this  subject,  I  cannot  think  it 
proper  entirely  to  finish  it,  without  giving  notice  of  some 
different  and  dreadful  additions  to  their  torment  which 
will  arise  from  evil  angels,  and  from  their  companions  in 
sin  and  misery  among  the  children  of  men  :  for  in  the 
agonies  of  our  Saviour,  men  and  devils  joined  together  to 
afflict  him,  when  it  'pleased  the  Father  to  bruise  him,  and 
to  make  his  soul  an  offering  for  our  sins.' 

I.  '  Evil  angels,  wicked  and  unclean  spirits,  with  all 
their  furious  dispositions  and  active  powers,  will  increase 
the  misery  of  the  damned.'     They  paved  the  way  to  hell 
for  man  by  the  first  temptation  of  our  parents  in  paradise, 
and  they  have  been  ever  since  busy  in  tempting  the  chil- 
dren of  men  to  sin,  and  they  will  be  hereafter  as  busy  in 
giving  them  torment.     When  these  wicked  spirits,  0  sin- 
ner, who  have  taken  thee  as  a  willing  captive  by  their  baits 
and  devices  in  this  world,  have  led  thee  down  through  the 
paths  of  vice  to  the  regions  of  sorrow,  they  will   begin 
then  to  insult  thee  with  hateful  reproaches,  and  to  triumph 
over  thee  with  insolence  and  scorn.     When  they  have  de- 
ceived thee  on  earth,  to  thy  own  perdition,  they  will  make 
thee  the  object  of  their  bitter  ridicule  and  mockery  in 
hell. 

0  could  we  turn  aside  the  veil  of  the  invisible  world, 
and  hold  the  bottomless  pit  open  before  you,  what  bitter 
groans  of  ghosts  would  you  hear,  not  only  oppressed  and 
agonizing  under  the  wrath  of  a  righteous  God,  but  also 
under  the  insults  of  cruel  devils  ?  As  <  there  is  joy  a- 
mong  the  angels  of  heaven  when  .a  sinner  repents,'  or 
when  a  soul  arrives  safely  at  those  blessed  mansions  ;  so 
when  a  rebellious  and  obstinate  criminal  is  sent  down  to 
hell,  you  would  hear  the  triumphs  of  those  malicious 
spirits  over  him,  with  the  voice  of  insulting  pride,  and 
hellish  joy.  And  while  they  domineer  over  you,  and 
tear  you  as  roaring  lions,  who  seek  and  tear  their  prey, 
you  will  curse  yourselves  a  thousand  times  for  hearkening 
to  their  deceitful  allurements.  You  will  vent  your  rage 
against  yourselves  at  the  same  time  that  they  scoff  at  you 
as  eternal  fools,  who  have  lost  a  God,  and  a  heaven,  and 
immortal  happiness,  by  your  own  madness  and  folly  in 
hearkening  to  their  temptations. 

II.  '  Tne  mutual  upbraidings  of  fellow-sinners  and  fel- 
low-sufferers among  the  children  of  men,  will  aggravate 


PUNISHMENTS  IN   HELL.  277 

your  wretchedness  day  and  night  without  end.'  Those 
who  drew  each  other  into  foul  iniquities,  shall  fill  the  ears 
of  each  other  with  loud  and  sharp  reproaches  for  their 
mutual  influence  on  both  their  ruin,  and  shall  charge  their 
damnation,  and  all  their  heavy  sorrows,  as  a  heavy  load 
on  each  other's  souls.  Some  of  those  who  have  been 
joined  in  the  nearest  ties  of  kindred  and  friendship, 
while  they  dwelt  in  flesh  and  blood,  shall  be  the  terrible 
instruments  of  their  keenest  remorse  and  vexation,  and 
teaze  their  spirits  with  endless  upbraidings. 

Here  the  '  sons  of  pride,'  that  most  hateful  iniquity,  shall 
be  overwhelmed,  with  huge  mortification  and  disdain. 
The  mighty  sinner  shall  be  insulted  by  the  meanest  of  the 
crowd,  and  princes  shall  be  bearded  and  affronted  by  those 
gay  slaves  of  the  court,  whom  they  once  employed  in 
flattering  and  adoring  them.  They  were  once  vain  enough 
to  believe,  that  they  were  something  more  than  mortal ; 
but  now  they  are  spurned  by  those  very  flatterers  with  a 
foot  of  contempt,  and  their  eternal  pride  still  swelling, 
gives  their  own  hearts  new  stings  and  twinges  at  every  re- 
sentment. None  but  a  proud  and  haughty  creature  here 
in  this  world,  who  has  sometimes  met  with  scorn  and  in- 
sult from  his  inferiors,  can  speak  feelingly  of  the  exquis- 
ite sensibility  of  these  torments  of  a  soul  in  hell. 

But  besides  this,  there  are  many  sinners  who  lived  in 
malice,  and  who  died  with  their  hearts  full  of  revenge 
against  their  fellow-sinners  ;  and  when  they  shall  meet 
them  in  those  deplorable  regions,  how  natural  is  it  to 
suppose  they  will  endeavour  to  execute  this  revenge 
upon  them  without  end  and  without  mercy  ?  For  it  may 
be  easily  supposed,  that  malice,  revenge,  and  cruelty, 
which  are  the  proper  character  of  devils,  shall  not  be 
abated  among  the  children  of  men,  when  they  are  grown 
so  near  akin  in  their  tempers  to  those  evil  spirits,  and  are 
now  forever  mingled  amongst  them. 

And  yet  further,  who  knows  what  the  damned  in  hell 
shall  endure  from  the  endless  brawls  and  bitter  quarrels 
among  themselves?  What  new  contentions  will  arise 
perpetually  in  such  a  country,  where  it  is  perhaps  the 
practice  and  custom  of  the  place,  and  the  nature  of  the 
inhabitants,  for  the  most  part,  to  make  every  one  of  their 
fellows  as  uneasy  and  as  miserable  as  they  can?  0  what 
mad  and  furious  pride,  and  malice,  and  every  hellish  pas- 


278  THE  NATURE  OF  THE 

sion,  will  be  raging  almost  in  every  bosom  against  all 
those  who  are  near  them,  and  this  in  a  dark  prison  where 
all  are  intensely  tormented,  and  where  there  is  no  such 
thing  as  compassion  or  sincere  love,  nothing  to  sooth  each 
other's  sorrows,  but  every  thing  that  may  add  to  the  sma.rt 
and  anguish ! 

0  that  the  present  survey  of  these  horrors  of  soul,  these 
complicated  distresses  and  miseries  from  within  us  and 
without  us,  from  every  quarter  of  heaven  and  hell,  from 
the  'gnawing  worm'  within  us,  and  from  the  'fire'  of  the 
wrath  of  God,  and  the  mutual  insults,  railings  and  injuries 
of  men  and  devils,  might  all  lie  with  its  due  weight  upon 
our  spirits  now,  while  we  are  in  the  land  of  hope ;  that 
every  one  of  us  may  be  awakened  to  a  timely  concern 
about  our  highest  interest,  and  hasten  to  make  our  escape 
as  Lot  did  from  Sodom,  lest  the  sentence  of  death  be  pro- 
nounced upon  us  while  we  delay,  and  the  fiery  deluge 
overtake  us. 

But  here  I  would  tarry  a  little  to  answer  a  repeated  ob- 
jection, viz.  the  terror  of  this  outward  punishment  from 
the  hand  of  God,  which  is  described  by  'avenging  fire/  is 
so  severe  and  intolerable,  that  it  awakens  some  lesser 
criminals  to  raise  the  same  cavil  against  this  'unquencha- 
ble fire,'  or  God's  punishing  hand,  as  was  raised  before 
against  the  'never-dying  worm,'  or  the  inward  anguish  of 
soul  arising  from  its  own  conscience. 

It  is  possible  sorqe  lesser  sinner,  who  has  had  more  ap- 
pearances of  piety  or  religion  here  on  earth,  may  rise  and 
say,  you  have  set  the  punishments  of  sin  in  a  most  horrible 
and  tremendous  light,  from  this  metaphor  of  'fire,'  as  well 
as  from  the  deathless  'worm:'  but  surely  this  cannot  be 
the  case,  nor  these  the  sufferings  which  God  will  inflict 
on  every  wretched  creature  in  hell.  Are  not  the  punish- 
ments there  proportioned  to  the  offences  ?  What  if  these 
sharpest  and  deepest  tortures  and  horrors  should  be  the 
portion  of  the  vilest  criminals,  the  most  impious  rebels 
against  God,  the  profane  and  obstinate  abusers  of  grace, 
the  scoffers  at  Christ  and  his  gospel,  and  the  cruel  perse- 
cutors of  all  the  saints,  yet  will  every  soul  who  had  not 
quite  religion  and  holiness  enough  to  reach  heaven,  be 
thus  terribly  tormented  in  hell?  Does  not  Christ  himself 
tell  us,  and  did  you  not  allow  before,  that  it  shall  be  more 
tolerable  for  some  sinners  than  for  others?  And  will  there 


PUNISHMENTS  IN  HELL.  279 

be  no  easier  abodes,  no  milder  regions,  no  kinder  and 
more  favourable  appointments  for  such  as  have  many  good 
wishes  and  hopes,  many  friendly  exercises  of  virtue  towards 
men,  and  some  workings  of  imperfect  piety  toward  God? 

To  this  I  answer,  as  before,  it  is  certain  that  '  every  one 
shall  be  judged  according  to  their  works,'  by  an  unerring 
rule  of  equity,  and  shall  be  punished  according  to  the  ag- 
gravation of  their  iniquities.  But  dost  thou  know,  0  sin- 
ner, how  great  is  that  punishment  which  the  least  trans- 
gression against  the  law  of  God  deserves  ?  One  single  sin, 
which  thou  wilt  not  part  with,  will  create  insufferable  mis- 
ery. And  though  there  may  be  other  criminals  there  of 
much  more  heinous  and  aggravated  guilt,  profaneness,  and 
rebellion  than  thine  is,  yet  if  thy  soul  be  filled  with  all 
that  torment  which  one  sin  may  create  and  deserve,  there 
will  be  hell  enough  around  thee  to  make  thy  distress  too 
terrible  for  thee  to  bear. 

Besides,  let  it  be  remembered,  that  whatsoever  tenden- 
cies toward  piety,  or  appearances  of  goodness,  might  be 
found  with  thee  in  this  world,  all  these  will  vanish  and  be 
lost,  when  once  thy  day  of  grace  is  finished,  and  all  the 
means  of  grace  and  salvation  are  ended  forever.  If  thoa 
hast  refused  the  proposals  of  mercy,  and  continued  in  thy 
sins  without  repentance,  and  hast  never  accepted  the  sal- 
vation of  Christ  while  it  was  offered,  all  the  good  'that 
thou  seemedst  to  have  shall  be  taken  from  thee,'  Matt, 
xxv.  29,  or  rather  thy  heart  itself  will  grow  more  hard, 
thy  will  more  obstinate  against  God,  and  every  evil  pas- 
sion will  rise  and  prevail,  and  make  thee  perhaps  as  very 
a  devil  as  thy  companions  in  guilt  and  misery.  It  is  for 
those  who  would  not  part  with  their  beWed  sins,  which 
were  as  dear  as  'right  hands,'  or  as  l right  eyes,'  that  the 
'never-dying  worm'  and  the  'unquenchable  fire'  are  pre- 
pared, as  the  context  itself  informs  us  in  this  place. 

And  as  the  worm  of,  conscience,  even  for  lesser  sins, 
will  gnaw  thy  heart  with  intense  anguish,  so  the  vengeance 
of  divine  fire  will  torment  thee  with  exquisite  pain,  though 
thy  pain  and  thy  anguish  shall  not  be  equal  to  what  great- 
er criminals  endure.  But  it  is  wise  and  kind  in  the  blessed 
God  to  denounce  the  terrors  and  sanctions  of  his  law  in. 
their  utmost  severity,  to  guard  his  law  the  better  against 
every  transgression,  and  to  frighten  and  secure  his  crea- 
tures from  sin  and  punishment. 


280  THE  NATURE  OF  THE- 

Trifle  not,  therefore,  0  sinner,  with  the  means  of  mercyr 
and  venture  not  upon  little  sins,  in  hope  of  little  misery, 
nor  dare  to  continue  in  an  impenitent  state  without  God, 
without  Christ  and  his  salvation,  upon  a  foolish  presump- 
tion that  thy  sins  are  hut  small,  and  thy  punishment  shall 
be  less  than  others :  for  the  least  of  those  sorrows  will  be 
found  greater  than  any  mortal  creature  can  bear,  and  there- 
fore thou  shalt  be  made  immortal  to  suffer  them. 

It  is  granted,  there  are  many  mansions  in  hell,  as  well 
as\n  heaven,  but,  as  the  lowest  mansion  in  heaven  is  hap- 
piness, so  the  easiest  place  in  hell  is  misery. 

There  is  another  objection  arises  here,  which  it  is  neces- 
sary to  give  some  answer  to ;  viz.  if  the  punishments  of 
hell  are  so  intense  and  terrible,  between  the  worm  of  con- 
science, the  fire  of  God's  anger,  and  the  malice  of  evil  spir- 
its, surely  it  will  work  up  human  nature  into  extacy  and 
madness  ;  it  will  take  away  all  the  regular  exercise  of  our 
natural  powers ;  it  will  render  us  perhaps  mere  passive 
miserable  beings,  of  keen  sensations  without  reasoning. 
This  is  certain,  that  such  and  so  various  tortures  would 
have  that  influence  upon  our  natures  at  present,  and  why 
should  it  not  hereafter  ?  And  will  the  blessed  God  con- 
tinue to  punish  creatures  when  their  reason  is  lost  ?  What 
can  punishments  avail  ? 

T  answer,  surely  God  will  not  continue  to  punish  mad- 
men ;  therefore  none  of  these  torments  shall  extinguish 
our  reason,  or  destroy  our  intellectual  powers  ;  for  it  is  as 
creatures  of  reason  and  free-will  that  sinners  are  thus  pun- 
ished, and  therefore  these  powers  must  remain  in  their 
proper  exercise;  besides,  the  very  operation  of  these 
powers  in  self-ccndemnation,  and  self-upbraiding,  are  part 
of  their  punishment.  But  whether  God  will  so  fortify 
the  natures  of  the  damned,  which  probably  shall  not  be 
made  of  flesh  and  blood,  and  enable  them  to  bear  such 
intense  pain  without  distraction,  or  whether  the  high- 
est extremes  of  their  torment  shall  only  be  inflicted  at 
some  certain  periods  or  intervals,  so  that  they  shall  soon 
return  to  their  reasoning  powers  again,  with  bitter  remem- 
brance of  what  passed,  this  matter  is  hard  to  determine; 
and  because  it  is  unwritten  and  unrevealed,  I  am  silent.. 
But  it  still  remains,  that  punishment  shall  be  so  intense 
and  severe,,  as  becomes  a  God  of  holiness  and  justice  to 
inflict  on  rebellious  and  obstinate  creatures. 


PUNISHMENTS  IN  HELL.  281 

§  III.  Reflections  on  the  nature  of  these  punish- 
ments. 

It  is  time  now  that  we  should  proceed  to  form  some 
special  l  reflections  on  the  nature  of  the  punishments  of 
hell,'  such  as  they  have  been  described  in  the  foregoing 
discourse. 

The  first  is  this  ;  '  what  dreadful  and  unknown  evil  is 
contained  in  the  nature  of  sin  which  grows  up  into  such 
misery,'  which  breeds  this  stinging  worm  in  the  con- 
science, which  prepares  the  creature  for  such  fiery  tor- 
ments, and  which  provokes  God  to  inflict  them  ?  The 
'  vessels  of  wrath  have  prepared  themselves'  for  it,  as  the 
Apostle  intimates,  by  their  own  sins,  Rom.  ix.  22, 'they 
are  fitted  for  destruction  :'  nor  does  all  the  intense  and  in- 
finite anguish  of  this  punishment-exceed  the  desert  of  our 
sins.  The  great  God,  in  a  way  of  bounty,  may  often  be- 
stow upon  us  vastly  beyond  what  our.  little  services  can 
ever  pretend  to  have  deserved,  but  he  never  punishes  be- 
yond our  deserts. 

What  a  dangerous  and  pernicious  mistake  is  it  in  the  chil- 
dren of  men  to  sport  with  sin,  as  with  a  harmless  thing  ? 
It  is  much  safer  sporting  with  a  poisonous  serpent,  or  with 
burning  firebrands.  The  serpent  has  many  gay  and  pleas- 
ing colours  on  its  skin,  and  appears  a  very  charming 
'creature,  which  tempts  children  and  fools  to  play  with  it :. 
and  the  same  ignorance  inclines  them  sometimes  to  sport 
with  fire,  because  of  its  shining  brightness  :  and  till  they 
are  burnt  with  the  fire,  or  bit  by  the  serpent,  they  will  not 
forsake  their  foolish  choice,  nor  be  convinced  of  their 
danger.  Such  is  the  case  and  temper  of  sinful  mortals  : 
their  senses  indulge  the  pleasing  flatteries  of  sin,  and  are 
fond  of  its  tempting  amusements,  till  they  feel  the  smart 
of  the  fire  raging  in  their  bosoms,  and  the  adder  stings 
them  to  death.  Thus  the  wise  man  describes  the  flatteries 
of  wine  in  the  view  of  the  drunkard,  Prov.  xxiii.  31,  32  : 
but  the  same  wise  man  pronounces  every  one  'a  fool  that 
makes  a  mock  at  sin,'  or  trifles  with  so  formidable  a  mis- 
chief, Prov.  xiv.  9. 

How  vain  are  the  gay  fancies  of  sinful  men  in  the  hour 
of  temptation,  and  how  shocking  and  dreadful  will  be 
their  disappointment  ?  They  think  the  descriptions  of  sin, 
which  are  blown  up  and  kindled  into  such  terror  by  the 
lips  of  the  preacher,  are  but  as  mock-fire  which  never 
36  r2 


282  THE  NATURE  OF  THE 

burns;  but  the  great  day  of  vengeance,  which  makes  haste 
towards  them,  will  terribly  and  eternally  convince  them 
of  the  fatal  mischief  of  it  by  the  various  plagues  that  shall 
seize  upon  them.  The  living  worm  shall  gnaw  their  con- 
sciences, and  the  fire  of  God  will  torment  their  spirits, 
and  spread  a  raging  anguish  through  their  whole  natures  ; 
and  every  twinging  accent  of  their  pain  shall  teach  them, 
but  with  a  terrible  and  hopeless  conviction,  '  what  un- 
speakable'evil  is  contained  in  sin.'  They  will  then  find 
what  '  a  fearful  thing  it  is  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  liv- 
ing God,'  who  has  a  right,  and  power  to  punish,  and  who 
will  punish,  Heb.  x.  31. 

0  that  eaclvof  us  might  arrive  at  this  holy  wisdom,  to 
learn  the  dreadful  '  evil  of  sin'  from  this  Bible,  this  book 
of  the  divine  law  and  grace,  and  not  provoke  the  blessed 
God  to  teach  us  so  necessary  a  lesson  by  the  rod  of  his 
vengeance  !  0  that  we  could  look  upon  every  unlawful 
action,  and  particularly  every  sin  against  conscience,  as  the 
seed  of  that  worm  which  will  gn-aw  our  souls  in  hell  with 
intense  pain,  as  part  of  that  fuel  which  is  kindling  into  a 
flame  to  torment  our  consciences  forever,  and  that  under 
the  powerful  influences  of  these  representations  of  sin  we 
might  flee  to  the  utmost  distance  from  it  with  horror,  and 
make  our  safe  escape  ! 

Reflect.  II.  If  the  punishments  of  hell,  appointed  by 
the  blessed  God,  carry  so  much  terror  in  them,  '  how  much 
mistaken  are  the  sinful  children  of  men  in  the  ideas  which 
they  form  of  the  great  and  blessed  God  ?  This  representa- 
tion of  the  vengeance  of  the  Lord  in  hell  may  be  of  use 
to  refute  such  mistaken  opinions. 

Some  have  framed  a  God  for  themselves  ;  not  such  as 
dwells  in  the  heavens,  not  such  as  he  has  described  himself 
in  his  word;  but  their  vain  imagination  has  raised  up  an 
idol  made  of  mere  goodness  and  mercy,  without  holiness 
and  justice.  It  is  their  own  self-love  which  forms  this 
idle  and  foolish  image  of  the  God  that  made  them,  because 
they  do  not  like  to  think  of  falling  under  the  terrors  of 
his  power.  They  venture  to  affront  him  to  his  face,  Ihey 
dare  him  to  vengeance  ;  and  as  the  writer  of  the  book  of 
Job  expresses  it, '  they  stretch  out  their  hands  against  God, 
they  strengthen  themselves  against  the  Almighty,  they 
run  upon  him  with  insolence,  and  venture  upon  the  thick 
bosses  of  his  buckler,'  Job  xv.  25.  There  are  multitudes. 


PUNISHMENTS  IN  HELL.  283 

in  our  day  that  are  arrived  at  such  a  dreadful  height  of 
impiety,  as  to  call  upon  him  for  the  damnation  of  them- 
selves, as  well  as  of  their  friends,  in  sport  and  merriment. 
They  will  not  believe  that  the  blessed  God  will  ever  be 
found  so  severe  and  formidable  as  preachers  describe  him  ; 
and  'because  judgment  is  not  speedily  executed'  against 
the  men  of  iniquity,  'therefore  the  sons  of  men  have  their 
hearts  set  in  them  to  do  mischief.  Madness  is  in  their 
hearts,'  Eccles.  viii.  11,  and  ix.  3.  Because  God  delays 
his  indignation  they  will  not  believe  he  has  any  belonging 
to  him,  notwithstanding  all  the  terrible"  words  by  which 
he  is  represented  by  the  prophets,  the  apostles,  and  the 
Son  of  God  himself.  And  w.hile  they  rush  boldly  on 
those  crimes  which  God  has  severely  forbidden,  they  are 
ready  to  think  'God  is  just  such  an  one  as.  themselves,' 
regardless  of  virtue  and  government,  Psal.  1.  21  :  and  be- 
cause they  make  nothing  of  sin,  they  imagine  God  will 
make  nothing  of  it. 

0  that  the  sons  of  men  would  once  learn  to  know  God 
better,  for  'there  are  many  who  have  not  the  true  know- 
ledge of  God,  I  speak  it  to  their  shame,  when  they'  fancy 
he  is  all  made  up  of  gentleness  and  forbearance,  without 
holiness  and  justice!  Alas,  sirs,  these  attributes  areas 
necessary  in  God  as  grace  and  compassion.  He  is  and  he 
must  be  a  wise,  a  righteous  governor  of  the  world  ;  and 
his  wisdom  requires  that  impenitent  sinners  should  be 
punished,  to  secure  the  honour  of  his  law,  and  to  guard 
his  gospel  from  contempt.  *  These  awful  perfections  of 
the  blessed  God  are  as  necessary  to  vindicate  his  authority 
and  his  government  from  insult  and  rebellion,  as  his  good- 
ness is  needful  to  encourage  sinful  creatures  to  repent  and 
return  to  their  duty.  The  word  of  God  expressly  tells 
us,  he  is  a  God  of  'holiness  and  a  consuming  fire,'  Heb. 
xii.  29  ;  but  there  is  many  a  sinner  that  will  never  learn 



*  A  governor  made  up  of  mere  goodness  and  meifjr,  could  be  no 
governor  at  all ;  for  it  is  absurd  to  call  that  a  government,  where  every 
subject  may  do  what  iniquity  and  mischief  he  pleases  with  impunity.  The 
laws  of  such  a  government  would  cease  to  be  laws,  and  become  mere  rules 
and  directions  for  living,  which  every  one  might  observe  or  not,  just  ac- 
cording to  his  inclination.  To  say  that  it  became  thu  wisdom  of  God  to 
threaten  offenders,  but  that  his  goodness  will  interpose  in  the  end  and 
hinder  the  punishment,  is  to  say,  that  God  is  not  wise  ;  for  if  he  were, 
he  would  certainly  have  taken  care  not  to  let  those  men  into  the  secret. 
Bishop  Hort's  sermons,  p.  315. 


284  THE  NATURE  OF  THE 

this  lesson  till  the  torments  of  hell  teach  it  him  by  dismal 
experience.  They  have  trifled  with  his  majesty,  and 
mocked  at  his  threatenings  all  their  life,  till  at  the  moment 
of  death  he  awakes  like  a  lion,  and  tears  their  spirits  with 
everlasting  anguish. 

I  might  take  notice  also  in  this  place,  that  there  is 
another  mistaken  notion  of  God,  into  which  some  persons 
have  unhappily  fallen,  as  'though  God  were  the  cause  and 
author  of  sin,'  and  have  spoken  unadvisedly  with  their 
lips,  in  such  language  as  borders  too  near  upon  blasphe- 
my. But  it  is  evident,  that  a  God,  who  will  punish  the 
sins  of  men  with  such  intense  pain  and  torment,  can  never 
be  so  inconsistent  with  hijnself  as  to  be  the  author  or  cause 
of  those  sins.  It  is  granted,  that  his  universal  providence 
has  a  concern  in  every  thing  that  is  transacted  among  men  , 
but  since  he  has  informed  us  in  what  a  dreadful  manner 
he  will  execute  his  vengeance  against  sinners  in  the  world 
to  come,  it  is  insolence  and  indignity  against  the  blessed 
God  to  represent  him  as  introducing  sin  into  our  world. 
'Let  God  be  true,  though  every  man  be  a  liar  ;'  let  God 
be  pure,  and  righteous,  and  holy,  though  every  man  be 
found  guilty  and  criminal:  'otherwise,  how  shall  God 
judge  the  world  ?'  How  can  he  inflict  such  torments  on 
rebellious  creatures,  if  he  constrain  or  influence  them  to 
practise  this  rebellion  ?  All  opinions  therefore,  that  allow 
of  such  an  inference,  as  though  'God  were  the  author  of 
sin,'  must  be  pronounced  false  and  pernicious  to  men,  as 
well  as  injurious  to  the  justice  of  God  ;  for  these  notions 
throw  a  vile  imputation  on  the  blessed  God,  and  charge 
him  with  heinous  insincerity,  to  forbid  the  commission  of 
sin  by  all  these  terrors,  and  yet  suppose  him  to  influence 
men  to  the  practice  of  them. 

Reflect.  III.  'How  reasonable  is  it  for  us  to  believe,  that 
such  a  hell,  as  I  have  described,  is  prepared  for  impeni- 
tent sinners,  since  there  are  so  many  appearances  of  the 
beginnings  of  it  here  on  earth,'  so  many  indications,  and 
signs,  and  forerunners  of  such  misery  and  torment  inflicted 
on  sinful  men.  Survey  the  remarkable  executions  of  God's 
judgments  on  the  world  in  several  ages  and  nations ;  look 
back  to  our  first  parents,  who  were  thrust  out  of  paradise, 
the  garden  of  pleasure,  and  banished  from  the  gates  of  it 
forever,  upon  the  account  of  the  first  sin,  and  the  entrance 
of  it  was  guarded  by  a  flaming  sword  to  forbid  their  return. 


PUNISHMENTS  IN   HELL.  285 

Behold  the  flood  of  watery  vengeance  in  the  days  of  Noah 
breaking  up  from  the  vast  caverns  of  the  earth,  and  pouring 
down  from  the  windows  of  heaven  to  punish  sin.  'Deep 
calls  unto  deep'  in  the  tremendous  noise  of  these  water- 
spouts, which  spread  death  and  desolation  over  the  face 
of  the  whole  earth,  'because  all  flesh  had  sinned'  against 
God  their  Creator.  Turn  your  eyes  to  Sodom  and  Gomor- 
rah, and  the  cities  of  the  plain,  'suffering  the  vengeance' 
of  heaven  with  lightning  and  devouring  fire  bursting  from 
the  clouds  to  punish  the  unnatural  crimes  of  that  country. 
See  the  fiery  flying  serpents,  as  the  messengers  of  divine 
anger,  to  punish  the  rebellion  of  the  Israelites,  in  the 
wilderness.  Mark  what  multitudes  in  the  camp  of  Israel 
received  their  mortal  sting,  and  were  given  up  to  destruc- 
tion and  death.  Cast  your  eyes  abroad  over  the  nations, 
and  what  records  have  we  of  all  former  ages,  which  do 
not  manifest  the  vengeance  of  God  pursuing  the  iniqui- 
ties of  men,  by  wars,  and  famines,  and  pestilences,  and 
every  thing  that  is  bitter  and  dreadful  to  human  nature. 
See  Jerusalem,  the  city  of  God,  all  in  flames,  and  the 
whole  land  of  Judea  laid  desolate  with  deepest  distress, 
diffused  and  reigning  among  all  the  inhabitants  of  it.  Above 
a  million  of  them  were  actually  slaughtered  and  consumed 
by  famine  and  sword,  as  a  sacrifice  to  the  anger  of  God, 
for  their  long  provocations,  and  the  cruel  barbarous  mur- 
der of  his  Son  Jesus.  And  when  you  have  taken  all  these 
surveys,  then  tell  me  if  such  terrors  of  the  Lord  do  not. 
give  us  sufficient  warning  what  unknown  agonies  and 
destructions  may  be  expected  by  obstinate  and  impenitent 
sinners  from  the  hand  of  God,  when  the  utmost  limits  of 
his  patience  restrain  his  wrath  no  longer,  but  his  wisdom 
gives  a  loose  to  all  his  fiery  indignation. 

To  inforce  this  yet  upon  your  hearts,  think  again  of  all 
the  pains  and  torments  of  flesh  and  spirit,  which  arise 
from  the  distempers  of  body,  and  from  the  anguish  of 
soul,  even  in  this  present  state  of  trial,  this  land  of  hope, 
this  season  of  divine  long-suffering.  Go  to  the  hospi- 
tals, where  the  gout,  and  stone,  and  rheumatism,  and  a 
thpusand  maladies  torture  the  nerves  and  the  joints  of  men 
with  intolerable  smart ;  and  infer  thence  what  God  will 
inflict  both  on  the  flesh  and  spirit,  or  the  soul  and  body 
of  .sinners  in  the  day  of  his  complete  vengeance,  when 
his  offers  of  mercy  and  the  years  of  his  grace  are  come  to 


286  THE  NATURE  OF  THE 

their  last  period.  Go  and  survey  the  fields  of  battle  and 
slaughter,  where  thousands  of  the  dead  and  the  dying  are 
mingled  in  contused  heaps,  and  groan  out  their  souls 'in 
long  anguish  and  extreme  torture,  with  bruises  and  wounds 
and  all  the  smarting  effects  of  the  instruments  of  war. 
Now  if  all  these  things  corne  under  the  conduct  of  divine 
providence  in  a  sinful  world,  which  is  yet  in  a  way  of 
hope,  what  may  those  resolved  and  obstinate  rebels,  expect, 
when  all  the  doors  of  hope  are  shut  up  forever,  and  pro- 
vidence has  nothing  to  do  on  earth  or  in  hell,  but  to  execute 
the  vengeance  of  God. 

Shall  we  take  one  step  yet  further,  and  think  of  the 
inward  pangs  of  conscience,  which  some  awakened  crim- 
inals have  felt  in  this  life  on  the  account  of  sin,  when  the 
arrows  of  God  have  been  shot  into  their  souls,  and  the 
poison  thereof  lies  drinking  up  their  spirits?  Think  what 
dreadful  ferments  of  passion,  and  rage,  and  hatred  of  God 
have  been  found  in  the  hearts  of  some  sinful  creatures, 
when  they  have  grown  mad  with  revenge  against  God, 
and  against  themselves,  and  envy  against  all  their  fellow- 
mortals,  who,  are  not  in  the  same  circumstances ;  think 
yet  again  how  terribly  their  misery  must  be  aggravated, 
when  the  torture  of  everlasting  despair  attends  all  the 
rest  of-  the  pains  and  sorrows  they  suffer  ;  and  then  say, 
if  the  description  of  a  future  hell  in  the  word  of  God  may 
not  be  true  and  real.  What  anguish  beyond  all  the  power 
of  present  thought  and  language,  may  seize  all  the  powers 
of  wilful  and  impious  rebels  against  the  authority  and  the 
mercy  of  God,  when  all  the  stores  of  his  vengeance  that 
have  been  treasuring  up  for  many  years,  shall  be  poured 
out  upon  them  without  any  mitigation  or  mixture  of  mercy. 
Reflect.  IV.  'It  is  matter  of  surprise,  and  great  aston- 
ishment, that  thousands  and  ten  thousands  of  the  sinful 
children  of  men,  from  day  to  day,  and  from  year  to  year, 
are  walking  on  the  borders  of  all  this  misery,  and  yet  are 
so  thoughtless  and  unconcerned  about  it.'  They  carry 
peaceful  and  easy  minds  in  the  midst  of  this  dreadful 
danger,  and  while  they  have  all  the  symptoms  of  the 
children  of  wrath  upon  them,  they  live  without  fear,  and 
make  no  effort  toward  their  escape.  Wretched  creatures 
indeed  !  Who  have  a  mortal  disease  upon  them  that  will 
breed  this  growing  worm  of  conscience,  that  will  grow 
up  into  all  this  anguish  and  distress,  and  yet  are  senseless 


PUNISHMENTS  IN  HELL.  287 

of  their  own  peril,  unacquainted  with  their  own  state  of 
soul,  and  are  daily  treading  their  earthly  rounds  of  busi- 
ness and  of  pleasure  with  a  merry  heart.  All  the  heavy 
artillery  of  divine  vengeance  is  ready  to  be  discharged 
upon  them  as  soon  as  the  door  of  death  opens  and  lets 
them  into  the  invisible  world ;  and  yet  they  walk  on  fear- 
less and  joyful,  and  have  no  guard  or  defence  from  all 
this  misery,  besides  their  own  vain  presumption.  Stupid 
creatures,  to  lie  down  at  night,  and  awake  in  the  morning 
within  an  inch  of  holl,  and  yet  secure  and  fearless !  They 
live  '  without  God  in  the  world,'  and  that  even  in  this  land 
of  light  and  hope,  where  he  offers  to  visit  them  with  all  his 
graces  ;  and  yet  they  are  hasting  hourly  to  the  eternal  world, 
where  they  must  meet  and  behold  him  in  all  his  terrors. 

Will  nothing  awaken  you,  O  ye  obstinate  transgressors 
against  God,  ye  obstinate  rejecters  of  his  grace  and  gospel? 
Will  nothing  warn  you  to  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come  ? 
But  just  thus  it  was  in  the  days  of  Noah  ;  the  sinners  of 
that  generation  would  not  hearken  to  that  preacher  of 
righteousness;  and  even  when  they  saw  the  clouds  of  hea- 
ven grow  big  and  black  over  their  heads,  and  the  rain  be- 
gan to  be  poured  down  from  the  skies,  little  did  they  im- 
agine that  it  would  have  drowned  the  earth,  till  they  were 
overwhelmed  with  the  rising  destruction.  And  so  shall 
it  be  in  the  days  of  the  Son  of  man,  when  all  the  warnings 
of  the  preachers  have  been  despised,  and  the  threatened 
vengeance  of  the  book  of  God  derided,  when  they  have 
set  up  for  bold  and  witty  scoffers,  and  impudently  deman- 
ded, '  where  is  the  promise  of  his  coming  ?'  Then  shall 
the  great  and  terrible  day  of  the  Lord  come,  and  pour  out 
upon  them  the  full  measure  of  wrath  and  indignation. 

Is  it  not  time,  my  friends,  to  bethink  yourselves,  wheth- 
er this  be  your  case  ?  Is  it  not  time  for  evfery  one  of  us 
to  examine  our  souls  ?  Am  I  exposed  to  this  danger  ?  Am 
I  every  moment  on  the  brink  of  this  misery,  and  yet  con- 
tent to  Continue  so  one  night  or  one  day  longer  ?  Can  I 
ever  hope  to  escape  the  fury  of  God,  while  I  thus  abuse 
his  patience  ?  Or  can  I  have  any  expectation  of  living 
with  him  as  my  God  hereafter,  if  I  never  seek  after  him 
here  ?  The  face  of  God,  as  a  stranger  in  the  world  to 
come,  carries  infinite  terrors  in  it,  and  yet  we  are  content 
to  be  strangers  to  him,  and  to  live  without  his  acquaintance. 
'The  wrath  of  God  abides  upon'  every  man  who  isunregen- 


288  THE  NATURE  OF  THE 

erate  in  this  life,  and  '  who  has  not  trusted  in  the  name  of 
the  Son  of  God/  John  iii.  36  ;  yet  they  are  thoughtless  of 
it,  for  they  feel  it  not ;  but  the  moment  when  they  shall 
awake  in  the  world  of  spirits,  that  wrath  will  be  felt  with 
sudden  and  dreadful  anguish,  as  a  most  unsupportable  bur 
then,  and  will  crush  all  the  powers  of  the  soul  into  torment. 

Reflect.  V.  <  It  deserves  and  it  demands  our  highest  gra- 
titude 'to  the  great  God,  our  humblest  acknowledgements 
and  our  most  exalted  praises  to  his  majesty  and  his  mercy, 
that  we,  who  have  long  ago  deserved  this  misery,  are  not 
yet  plunged  into  the  midst  of  it:'  that  we  have  not  been 
entirely  cut  off  from  the  land  of  hope,  and  sent  down  to 
this  destruction.  Blessed  be  the  name  and  the  grace  of 
our  Cruel  for  ever  and  ever. 

While  there  are  thousands  who  have  been  sent  down 
to  the  place  of  punishment,  whence  there  is  no  redemp- 
tion, before  they  .had  continued  so  long  in  sin  as  many  of 
us  have  done,  what  a  peculiar  instance  is  it  of  divine  long- 
suffering  and  goodness,  that  we  are  not  actually  put  under 
the  sting  of  this  living  worm,  under  this  fiery  vengeance 
from  the  hand 'of  God  ?  What  was  there  in  us  that  should 
secure  us  from  this  destruction,  while  we  continued  in  our 
state  of  guilt,  rebellion  and  impenitence  ?  Have  we  not 
seen  many  sinners  on  our  right  hand,  and  on  our  left,  cut 
off  in  their  sins,  and  to  all  appearance  they  seem  to  be 
sent  down  to  the  place  of  sorrows  ?  What  is  it  but  the 
special  mercy  and  distinguishing  favour  of  God  that  has 
dealt  thus  kindly  with  us,  and  spared  and  saved  us,  week 
tfter  week,  and  month  after  month,  while  we  continued  in 
•ur  iniquities,  and  has  given  us  space  for  repentance  and 
hope  ?  What  shall  we  render  to  the  Lord  for  all  his  pa- 
tience and  long-suffering,  even  to  this  day  ?  How  often 
:iave  we  incurred  the  penalty  of  the  law  of  God,  and  the 
fiery  sentence  of  condemnation  by  our  repeated  iniquities, 
both  against  the  authority  and  the  grace  of  God?  And  yet 
we  are  alive  in  his  presence,  and  are  hearing  the  words  of 
hope  and  salvation.  0  let  us  look  back  and  shudder  at  the 
thoughts  of  that  dreadful  precipice,' on  the  edge  of  which 
we  have  so  long  wandered.  Let  us  flee  for  escape  to  the 
refuge  that  is  set  before  us,  and  give  a  thousand  glories  to 
the  divine  mercy  that  we  are  not  plunged  into  this  perdi- 
tion. 

Reflect.  VI.  Let  us  learn  from  this  description  of  hell, 


PUNISHMENTS  IN    HELL.  289 

and  our  imminent  danger  of  it,  '  the  infinite  vtrlue  and 
worth  of  the  gospel  of  Christ :'  this  gospel,  which  calls  us 
aloud  to  flee  from,  the  wrath  ^o  come,  and  points  .out  to  us 
the  only  effectual  way  to  escape  it.,  .\\hat  can  all  the 
riches  of  the  Iridjes.tTo  to  relieve  us  under 4the  guilt  and 
distress  into  which* sin*  has  brought  us  ?  What? can  the  fa- 
your  of  princes,  and  Vhe  flatterjng  honours  of  the  world 
do*  to  rescue  us  from  this  danger  ?  What  can  the  highest 
gust  of  sensuality,  and  the  most  exquisite- delights  of  flesh 
and  blood  do  fc>  secure' us  against  thi#  ovenv helming  mis- 
ery ?*  It  is  only  the  gospel  of  the.'*blessetl  Jesus  which  is 
our  refuge,,  and  our  safety  from  the  tremendous  destruction. 

What  ar"e  the  heights,  and  depths,'and- lengths  of  human 
science,  with^all  the  boasted  acq-uisitiorts  of  the  brightest 
genius,  of  mankind  ?\  Learning  and 'science  can  measure 
the  globe,  can  squifd  the  depths  of  tke  sea,  can  compase  the 
heavens,  can  mete  out  the  distances  of  the*  sun. and  moon, 
and  mark.'out  the  paflvof  every  twinkiiu'g  sta»  for  many 
ages  past,  or  ages-  tcwcome  ^  but  they  cannot  acquaint  us 
with  the  way. 6f  ^salvation  from  this  long,  this- endless  dis- 
tress. What  are  all  tTie  sublirhe  reasonings  of  philosophers 
upon  the  abstruse  and  most'difficult  SLrbjects?  What  is  the 
whole  circle  'of  sciences  which  human  wit  and  thought  can 
trace  otit  and  comprehend  ?  Can  they  deliver  iis  from  the 
guilt  oi  one  sin  ?  .  Can  they  free'  Us  from-  one-  of  the .  ter- 
rors of  the  Almighty  ?  Can.  they,  assaagc  the  torment  of 
a  wounded  spirit,  or  guard  .us"  From  the  impressions  of 
divine  indignation  I  Alas!  they  are  all  but  trifles,  in  com- 
parison of  flits  blessed -gospel,  which  saves  us  from  eternal 
anguish  and  death. 

It  is  the  gospel  that  teaches 'us  the  holy  skill  to  prevent 
this  Worm  of  conscience  from  gnawing  the  soul,  and  -in- 
structs us  how  to  ldfl  it  in  the  seed  and  first  springs  of  it, 
to  mortify  the  corruptions  of-  the  heart,. to  resist  the  temp- 
tations of  Satan,  and  where  to  wash  away  the  guilt  of  sin. 
It  is  this  blessed  gospel  that  clearly  djscovers  to  us  how 
we  may  guard  against  the  fire  of  crivine  wrath,  or  rather 
how  to  secure  our  souls  from  becoming  the  fuel  of  it.  It  is 
this  book  that  teaches  us  to' sprinkle  the  blood  of  Christ  on 
a  guilty  conscience  by  faith,  i.  e.  by  receiving  him  as  sin- 
cere penitents,  and  thereby, defends* us  from  the  angel  of 
death  and  destruction.  This  is  that  experimental  philoso- 
phy of  the  saints  in  heaven,  whereby  they  have  been  re- 
37  Z 


290  THE  NATURE  OS  THE 

leased  from  the  bonds <of  their  sins,  have  beeri  rescued  from' 
the  curse  of  the  law, 'and  been  secured  from -the  gnawing 
worm  and  the  devouring  fire*... 

A  serious  metlitatipri  of  hell  in  its  exquisite  pain  and 
sorrow,  will  ejihance  our  value  of  *the' salvation  of  Christ, 
and  will  exalt  our  esteem  and  honour  of  the  Ipre  of  God, 
who  has  delivered  us-  from  eternal  dfeath.  If  we  will  i>ut* 
appoint  our  thoughts*  to  dSvell  a  little  on-  the  terrors  and 
vengeance  from  which  the  blessed  Jesus  has  rescued  us  by 
his  glorious  undertaking,  if  we  will  stretch  the  powers  pf 
our  souls,--and  survey  the  lengths,  and  the  breadths,  and 
the  depths pf  this  distress  and  misery,  which  w$  hfcrve"  de- 
served, this  will  discover  to'usthe  heights,  and  the  depths, 
and  the  lengths'  of  his  love,  who  submitted  himself  to  the 
curses  of  the  law-of  God,  'and  was  made  a  curse  for  us,' 
that  he-  might  redeem*  us  to  the  possession  of  an  eternal 
blessing,  Gal.  iii.  33.  This  will  shejv  us  what  .exceeding 
riches  of  the'  graee  of  God  have  been  laid  out  upon  us  for 
our  salvation.  .  This  will  spread  before  us  the  unmeasura- 
ble  love  of  Jesus,  which  has  brought  Jiirn*  down  from  the 
bosom  of  his  Father  into  such-  agonies  as  he  sustained*  in 
the  garden,  and  dn-the  cross,  ttiat  he  miglii  rescue  us  from 
the  wrath  to  come.  0 'what  immense  and  endless  debts 
of  gratitude  and  love  are  due  from  every  ransomed  sinner, 
who  ha"s  been  released  from  the  bonds  of  his  guilf,  and 
from  all  this  wretchedness,  by,  the  love  of  God  the  Fa- 
ther,' and  the  grace  of  his  Son  Jesws  Christ,  to  w^iom  be 
glory  and  honour,,  and  most  exalted  praise,  fprever  and 
ever.  v  Jtme.n. 


DISCOURSE    XIII. 


THE    ETERNAL    DURATION    OF    THE    PUNISHMENTS    IN 
HEX*..' 

•  »  V  • 

MATIK.  ix.  46.     Whete  their'  Worm  dieth,  not,  and  the  Fire  is  not 
quenched. 

§  I.     Arguments  to  prove  the  perpetuity  of  hell. 

WHEN  the  great  ami  blessed  God  had  &  mind  to  make 
known  his  wisdom,  his"  power,  and  his, goodness  amongst 
creatures*  he  built  this  world  as  a  theatre,  in -which  those 
perfections  of  his  -nature  might  'be  displayed  'amidst  the 
various  work  of  his  hands.  He  spread  it  round  with  the 
blessings  of  life  and  pleasure,  he  overhung  it  with  a  cano- 
py of  skies  atid.  stars,  and  placed  the  glorious  bodies  of  the 
.  suli  and  'moon  there,  to  appear  in  their  alternate  seasons ; 
and  even  amidst  the  ruins  which  sin. has  brought  into  this 
world,-  jjet  still.every  eye  may  behold  the  traces  of  an  al- 
mighty, an  all-wise,- and  a  bountiful  God. 

When  the -same  divine  and  sovereign  Being  designed 
to  exalt  and  diffu.se  the  wonders  of  his  grace  among  the 
begt  of  his  creatures,  -he  built  a  heaven  for  them,  and  fur- 
nished  it  with  unknown  "varieties  of  beauty  and  blessing: 
and  we  would  hope  in  our  Appointed  season  to  be  raised 
to  this  upper  world,  and  there  to  behold  the  riches  of  di- 
vine magnificence  and  mercy,  and  to  be  sharers  thereof 
among  the  rest  of  the  happy  inhabitants. 

But  since  sin  and  wickedue'ss  has  entered  into  his  crea- 
tion of  men  and  angels,  he  saw  it  accessary  also  to  display 
the  terrors  of  his*] u slice,  and  to  make  his  wrath  and  indig- 
nation known  amongst  rebellious  creatures,  that  he  might 
maintain, .a.just  jjwe  and  reverence  of 'his  own  authority, 
and  a  constant  hatred  of  sin  .through  all  his  dominions. 
For  this  pqrpose  he  has  built- a  hell,  a  dreadful  building 
indeed,  in  some  dismal  region. of  his  vast  empire,  where 
he  has  amassed  together  all  that  is  grievous  and  formida- 

291 


292  THE  ETERNAL  DURATION  OF 

ble  to  sensible  beings,  and  wicked  spirits  -carry  their  own 
inward  hell  thither  with  them,  a  hell  of  sin  and  misery  ; 
and  though  he- has  sent  his  own  Son  to  acquaint  us  with 
•the  distresses  and  agonies  of-  that  doleful  worhlj  aijd  to 
warn  us  of  the  danger  of  falling  into -it;  yet  if  any  of  us 
should  be  so  unhappy  as  to  continue  in  an  "obstinate  state 
^  of  irrtjjenitence  and  disobedience  to  God,  we  shall  be  mader" 
to  confess,  by  dreadful'experiehce,  that  not  one-half  hath 
been  told  us.  .  . 

Therefore  hath  God  set  -before  us  these  terrors  in  his 
wordj  that,  we  might  fl6e»  frojn  this  wratja  to.  come,  and 
avoid  these  sufferings..  And  therefore  do  his  ministers, 
by  his  commission,  proceed  to  publish  this  vengeance  and 
indignation  of  the  Lord,  that  sinners  might  be  awakened 
to  lay  hold  on  the  hope  that  .is  set  before  them,  and  might 
be-  affrighted  from  plugging  themselves  into  this  pit  of 
anguish,  whence  there  is  no  redemption. 

We.  have' taken  a  short  survey  of  these  miseries,  in  th'e 
'kind  and* nature. of  them/  in  some  former  discourses,  and 
we  are  now  come  to  the  last  thing  contained  in  our  Sa* 
viour's  description  of  hell,  and  that  is  the  'perpetuity'  of 
il.  The  misery  is  everlasting. irt  both  the,  p'arts  of  it;  for 
'their-worm  dieth  not,'and  the  fire  is  riot  quenched.'  The. 
arguments  which  shall  be  employed  to  prove  jt,  are  such 
as  these.  .••. 

I.  Jlrgument*  Th'e  express  words  of  Christ  and  his 
Apostles  prcHio.unce  these  punishments  eternal ;  and  surely 
these  words  are  given  to  be  .the  foundation  of  our  faith 
and  practice,  antl  the  rules  of  our  hope  and  .fear.  My 
text  seems  io  carry  plain  and  -unanswerable  evi,dence»in  it. 
'Thejr  worm  dieth  not,  aud  the  fire  is  not  quenched.' 
And  it. is  many  times  repealed  in.  tbis  chapter,  and  that 
with  a  special  acqent  on  the  eternal,  duration  of  it,' to  make 
that  circumstance  of  it  more* observed,  an'd  to'  aggravate? 
the  terror..  Such  an  awful,  repetition  from  the  lips  of 
the  Son  of  God  shoujd  make  the  sojund  of  the  vengeance 
dwell  longer  on  the  ear,  and  the  threatening  sink 'deeper 
into'the  soul. 

Let  us  next*  obsferve  the. final  sentence  which«Christ,  as 
Judge,  pronounces  against  .impenitent-  sinners  among  tfee 
sons  of 'men,  as  well  as  agahist  fallen  spirits,  in- Matt.  xxv. 
It  is  this, 'Depart,  ye  cursed;  into  everlasting  fire,  pre- 
pared for  the  devil  and  "his  angels.'  And  as  soon  as  the 


THE  PUNISHMENTS  IN  HELL.  293 

sentence  Is  pronounced,  it  is,  immediately  executed,  as  our 
Saviour  forete,ls,  'in  the  last'  verse  :  'These  shall  go  away 
into  everlasting  punishment,  and  the  righteous  into  life 
eternal.'  What  he  pronounces  as  a  Judge,  he"foretels  also 
as  a  Prophet,,that  it  shall  be  put  in  execution.  », 
.  The  express  word -#f' God,  .in  describiiig  the  punish- 
ment of.  sinsers  by*  the  pen  of  h-is  <two  apostles,  Paul  and 
John,  declares  the  samp  thing,-  2 .Th.es.  j..  9,  'They  shall 
be  punished  with  everlasting  destruction  from  the  presence 
of  the  .Lord.'  And  the  book  of  Revelation  gives  us  assu- 
rance'that  these  miseries  shall  bave.no  end.  Rev.  xiv.  10, 
11.  The  'antidifistian'  idolaters,  'who  worship  the  beafst, 
shall  drink  ef  the  wine  of  the  wrath  of  God,  which  is 
poured  out,  without  mixture,  intojhe  cup  of  his  indigna- 
tion, and  shall  be"  tormente'd  with  fire  and  brimstone  in 
the  presence  of  the  Lamb,  and  the  smoke  of  their  torment 
ascendeth  tip  for  ever  and  ever.'  Jude  the  apostle  beftrs 
his  testimony  in  the  same  manner,  ver.  6;  'ther*  damned 
'spirits,  who  kept  not  .their  first* station,  are' said  to  be 
'cast  down-'  into  hell,  'ar\d  bound  in  chains  of  everlasting 
darkness.'  Now,  "suppose  a  man  plunged  into  a  pit  of 
thick  darkness',  by  the  command  of  God,  and  bound  there 
with  everlasting  chains;  what  hope  can  he  ever  have  of 
deliverance? 

And  if  Christ,  ttnd  his  apostles  who  were%taught  by  him 
and  by  his  blessed  Spirit,  assert  this  punishment  shall  be 
eternal,  who  shall  dare1  to  contradict  them  ?  Who  is  there 
so  rash  and  confident  as  to  say',  'This  torment  shall  not  be 
everlasting,  this  worm  one  day  «hall  die,  and  this  fire 
shall  be  quenched?"  Does.it'not  approach  to  the  crime 
of  contradicting  the  Almighty,  and  the  true-G*od  ?  ' 

JI,  Argument.  There"  is  a  sort  of  infinite  evil  in  sin, 
arising  from  the  consideration  of  the  person  against  whom 
it  is  committed,  i.  e.  the  great  and  blessed  God  :  for  every 
crime,  according  to  the  law  .of  nations,  and  the  common 
sense  of  mankind,  take*  its  aggravation  from  the  dignity 
of  the  p'erson 'offended,  as  well  as  from  the  heLnousness  of 
Ijie  act^  so  reproaches  or  assaults  against  a  king,  or  a  fa- 
ther,-are  much  more  criminal  and  heinous  than  the  same  as- 
saults or  reproaches  cast  on  an  equal  or  an  inferior ;  but  all 
sin  being  an  offence  "against  God,  an  infinite  object,  and  a 
violation  of  his  law,  js  a.  dishonour  of  infinite  Majesty,  an 
affront  to  the  divine  authority,  and  therefore  its  aggrava- 


294  THE   ETERNAL  DUUATION-OF 

tions  arise  in  that  proportion  to  a  sort- of  infinity,  and  re- 
quire an  equal. punishment.  But  ^because  the  nature  of  a 
creature  cannot  suffer  infinite  puhfthmcTit  in  thd  'intense- 
ness  of  the  pain/  therefore  "he  must  bear  it  to  an  'infinite 
duration/*  1.  e.^to  all  everlasting.. 

When  divine  justice  pronounce*  a  sentence  against  the 
sinner,  equal  to  the  demerit  of  sin,  it  must  be*iniinite,  i.  e. 
eternal;  and  the  .sinner  shall  -nev^r  'be  released  from  the 
prison.'  and  the  punishment,  'till  he  has  .paid  the  utmost 
farthing/  Matth.  ix.  25,  and  till  he  has  made  satisfaction 
to  God,  equal,  to  his  de'mandsj  and  the  demerit  of  the 
offence. 

I  know  this  argument  is  treated  with  mlicn  contejnpt 
jind  derision  among  these  of  the  moderns,  who  v,rould  di- 
minish the  evjl  t)f  sin,  and  shorten  the  punishment  of  it. 
But  it  is  much  easier  to  ridicule  it  than  to  answ'er  it  A 
jest  is  no  refutation.  And  after  my  best,  survey  bf  it,  I 
think,  without  prejudice. or  partiality,  the  force  of  it  seems 
to  me  unanswerable  as'to  the  desert  of  sin ;  and  I  am  not. 
ashamed  to  employ  it  in  the  support  of  thie  truth. 

But  a  very  feeble  .opposition'  can  be'  made  to  it  by  those 
who  say,  that  .'if  sin  be  counted  an  infinite  evil,  and  must 
have  infinite  punishment,  theji  all  sins  are  equal,  and  will 
require  equal  punishment/  for  there  are  no  different  de- 
grees in  infinity,  or -in  things  which  are' infinite. 

But  our  Saviour  has  taught  us,  that  there  are  certainly 
various  degrees  of  punishment  as  well  as  of  sin.  He  as- 
sures us  that 'it  sh'all  be  more  tolerable  for'  the  inhabitants 
of 'Sodom  and  Gomorrtih,;in  the  da"y  of  judgment,  than  if 
shall  be  for  Capernaum  and  Bethsaida,'  Where  he  had 
preached  and  wrought  his  wori'ders,  Luke  X,  f2,  &c«'and 
the  reason  is  plain,  viz.  because  the  sins  of  Sodori}  were 
less  than  theirs.  t 

And  it  is  very  easy  to  answer  thi«  pretence  or  objection 
about  the  equality  of  all  sins,  for  sins  may  have  different 
degrees  of  guilt  and  aggravation  as  to  the  actj  where  the 
object  is  the  same,  whether  this  object  be. finite  or  infinite  ; 
as  the  murder  of"  a  father  or  a  king,  is  a-  much  .greater 
crime  than  a  reproach  or  slander  cast  on  thetsame  persons. 
So  the  wilful  hatred  of  God  ai\d  blasphemy  against  him, 
with  continued  malice  and  public  violent  opposition  to  his 
name,  or  law,  or  gospel,  are  far  greater  sins  than  a  single 
neglect  of  his  daily  worship  for  fear  of  persecution,  or  a 


THE  PUNISHMENTS   IN   HELL.  295 

• 

distrusting  his  providence,  though  both  have  the  same  in- 
finite Being,  i.  e.  God,'for  thejc  object ;  and  in  this  sense 
.there  is  a  sort  of  infinity  in  each  of  the. crimes. 

And  accordingly  punishments  may  be  proportioned  to 
*  every  .crime^  for  they  may  differ  greatly  in  tl)e  degree  of 
severity  and  torture,  though  they  may  all  be  t?qual  or 
eternal  in.  'the  duration,  Sodom  aud  Gomorrah,  Caper- 
naum and  Bethsajda,  may  all  suffer  -infinite  or  eVerlasting, 
sorrow,  and  yet  the  degrees  of  their  pain  may  be  exceed- 
ingly different  all  the  while.  They  Vnay  have  .the  same  in- 
finity, of  duration,  though  very  •different.as-to  the  inte'nse- 
ness  or  degree  of  the  pain.  ,  ,  . 

III.  Argument.  >  If  the  iniquities  committed  'in  this 
life  were  not  punished -with  torment  whioh  is  everlasting, 
yet  the.  damned,  inr  hell  are  ev^r.  sinning. against -Qod,  and 
therefore  they  provoke  the  vengeance  .of  God  to  continue 
his  punishing  hand  upon  them  forever.  The  law  of  God, 
in  all  its  demands  «f  duty,  its  prohibitions  of  sin,  as  well 
as  in  its  sanctions  of  punishment,  continues  forever  in 
force  in  heaven",  and  etirth,  ami  hell,  and  we  see  not  how 
it  can  t>e  abrogated  where  it  arises  from  tthe  very  nature 
of  God  and  a  creature,:  and  'curse'd  is  he  that  continues 
not  in  all  things  which  the  law  requires,'  Gal.  iii.  Every 
new  sin  demands  a  new  curse  and  a  new  punishment,  and 
ihere  is*  no  reason  which  forbids  a  righteous  governor  to 
cease  punishing,  while  the  rebellious  creature  will  not 
cease  to  offend,  and  especially  while  he  maintains  an  ever-- 
lasting  enmity^  and  rebellion  .against  the  law  of  God  his 
Creator.. 

If  there  were  any  humble  meltings  of  repentance  in  the 
guilty  soul,  if  there  w.ere  any  sincere  mournings  in  the 
sinful  creatare  for  having  offended  his-  Maker,  -if  there 
were  any'softneSs  of  heart,  relenting  under  a  sense  of  the 
evil  of  sm,  and  returning  to  obedience  and  duty,  even  this- 
would  not  oblige  a  righteous  and  wise  governor  to  forgive 
the  criminal ;  repentanpe  is  noncompensation  fpr  a  wilful 
offence  ;  nor  is  it  thought  unrighteous  or  unwise  for  a 
prince  to  punish  even  a  penitent  offender  with  death. 
.  But  let  us  propose  the  case  in  utmost  favour  to  a  sinner 
against  the  blessed  God,  let  us  imagine  that  divine  wisdom 
and  divine  mercy*  per  haptf  fbighf  be  supposed  to  contrive 
and  to  .offer  some  proposals  to  justice  in  a  way  of  compas- 
iion,  and  might  enquire  whether  the  sentence  of  punish- 


296  THE  ETERNAL  DURATION   OF 

merit  could  not  be  reversed,  or  the  terror  of  it  relieved,  or 
some  new  state  of  trial  pt;apo£ecl.  Let  it  be  added  in  fa- 
vour of  the  criminal,  that  we  do  jnot»find-  through  all  the 
book  of  God  the  actual  practipe  of  true  repentance  beginT 
ning' among  men,  but -it  has  been  always  followed  with 
proportionable  degrees  of  compassion  from  God.  But,  on 
the  other  side,  when  there  is  nothing  found  fn  the  heart 

,of  a  sinner  but  ob'stinacy,  and  rhalice,  and  revenge,  curs- 
ing and  blasphemy  against  t-he  Almighty,  without  the' least 
moving  or  melting  irfto  a  genuine  penitence  or  holy  sor- 
rovv,  without'apy.  meek  snbmissionto  the  majesty  and  jus- 
tice of  God,  or  humbje,  imploring  of  tiis  meYcy,  what 
reasonable  hope  can  sijch  wretches  have,  that  their  chains 
of  Darkness  shoUld  be  bfoken, and  the  prisoners  released 
from  vengeance  ?  When  they  shall«curse  his  justice,  be- 
cause it  punishes  thejr  .crimes, 'when  they  shall  curse  his 
mercy,  because  it  did  not  save  their  souls,  and  curse  and 
blaspheme  the  blood  of  the  blessed  Jesus,  because  it  has 
not  washed  away  their  sins,  what  possible -excuse  can  be 
made  for  auch  creatures?  •  Or  wh^f  possible  expectation 
carr  there  be  for  such  criminals,  but  an  everlasting 'contin- 
uance of  the  fiery  indignation?.  . 

Here  it  will  be  replied,  but  why  should  we  suppose, 
and  much  more,  why  should  we  affirm,  that  '  the  damned 
will  never  repent  ?'  Are  they  nob  free  in  the  other  work! 
front  this  flesh  and  blood,  wherein  there  are  so  many  un- 

•  ruly  passions  and  appetites  ?  Are  they  not  far  remote  from 
all  thef  temptations  of  flesh  and  sense,  of^  intemperance, 
ambition,  and  covetousness  ?  Have  they  not  understanding 
to  see  divine  truths  more  clearly  than. in  this  world  ?  Have- 
they  not  reason  to  distinguish  good  and  evil^  and  free-will 
to  choose  tfyat  which  is  good  ?  Will  they  not  hate  all  sin, 
since  they  have  been  so -long  taught  the  miscRief  of  sin 
by  their  sufferjngs?  And  is  there* any  thing  fitter  than 
their,  agonies  and  torture  by  fire4  to  make  men  know  and 
feel  the  dreadful  evil  of  sinning  agaihst  God, .and  to  awa- 
ken them  to  repeal t ante  ? 

To  this  I  answdr,  let  us  judge  a  little  concerning  the 
sinners  in'hell,  by  the  practice  of  sinners  on  earth.  '  How- 
many  wretched  creatures  are  there .  who  have  been  long 
imprisoned,  and  perhaps 'punished  for  drimes  against  the 
state,  and  yet  persist  in  their  rebellious  temper,  and  are  ne- 
ver convinced  they  were  in-  the  wrong,  so  far  as  to  change 


THE  PUNISHMENTS  IN  HELL.  297 

• 

their  treason  into  /sincere,  submission,  repentance,  and  obe- 
dience ?  Was  notPharaoh,  kingef  Egypt,  an  instance  of 
the  stubbornness  and  'impendence  of  human  nature,  when, 
in  opposition  to  ten  dreadful'plagues  he  Would  still  pursue 
the  flying  Israelites,  and/destroy  a  people  beloved  of  God? 

.  te  not  hardness  and  enmity  against  the  governor  often  in- 
creased; by  the*  severe  punishments  that  criminals  lie  un- 
der? Have  these  nn-nishments  any  sufficient  power  to  sof- 
ten their  "hearts  into  true  repentance  ? 

What  though  they  do  not  live  in  the  midst,  of  sensual 
tejnptatipn's,  yet  who  knows  lunv  far»jheir  spirits,  having 
been  immersed  in 'flesh  and  blood,  may  carry '  with 
them  in'ward,  raging  appetites  to  thc%e  sinful  sensualities 
and  cfefilin'g  pleasures,  of  which  theV  are  fot  ever  depri- 
ved? 'A 

Let- me  as'k  again,  have  the  devijs. ever  repen-ted  in  al- 
most six  thousand  years*?  ;  Are  they  not  the  same  enemies 
to  G.od,  and  his  glory,  and  his  image  through  a-11  ages?  And 
though  the  damned -spirits  of  men  are  abselit  from  this 
world,  and  their  tjvil  companions  oh  earth,  yet  are  they 
not  in  the  fittest  .company  to  teach  them  ptide^and  rage, 
resentment 'and  malice,  and  die  ipost  unfit  ttif  teach .  them 
humility,  repentance,  and  obedience  to  God?  And  when 
they  have  perversely  sinned  away  all  the  means  of  grace 
iri  this  life,  is  it  reasonable  4o  imagine,  that*  God  will  pow- 
erfully softe'n  their  hearts  by 'his 'sovereign  grace,  since  he 
has  never  given  the  least  hint  or  yistan.ee .of- it  in  alKthe 
discoveries  made  in  the  Bible?  And  has  it  net  been- of- 
ten one  way  of  God's  punishing, signers,  here  rrw  this  world, 
by  letting,  them  go  oi\,  iri  <tKelr.  iniquity  and  madness  to  the 
end  ?  And  why  may  n&t  the  wisdonwnd  justice  of  God 

•  see  fit  to  treat  shiners,  whg  have  been  in,cerrigible  in  this 
jife,  .by  the  same  method  in, the*  world* to  come? 

.  IV.  Jlrgument..  The  natural  effects  and  conse.quences 
ef'svn  living -in  the  soul,  are  misery  and  torment  so*  long 
as  the  soul  lives,  i.  e.  forever.-  Sinf  though  it  be  amoral 
evil,  as  it  is  committed  against^ qd;  yet  it  is  such  ah  ene- 
my to  the  nature  of,  man,  that  ^'here  it  has  established  its 
habit  and  tenrper  in  tlie  soul,  it  naturally  prepares  constant 
anguish  qf  conscience  and  certain  misery.  A  wicked  spi- 
rit all.'ove.r  averse  tp  God  and  -goodrtess,  gone  from  this 
world  and  all  the  soothtfig  or  bnsy  amusements  of  it,  intense 
in  its  desiues'of  •happines's,  and  yet  a  stranger  to  all  that 
38'  % 


298  THE    ETERNAL  DURATJON  OF 

can  make  it  truly  happy,  and  at  the  same  time  shut  out 
by  God's  righteous  Judgment,  from  all  the  means  and 
hopes  of  grace,  must  needs  he  miserable,  ancl  has  prepar- 
ed a  state  of  endless  miser^  for  its'elf,  because  its  nature 
and  duration  arc--  immortal.  An  yfihtoly  creature  who  loves 
not  God,  and  cannot  delight  in  things«hoiy  and  hqavenly, 
but  derives  its  chief  joy  from  sinful  pleasures,  can  never 
taste  of  felicity,  can  never  relish  the  satisfactions  that  come 
from  the  knowledge,  arid  love,  and  enjoyment' of  God; 
and  when  it  is  tojn.away,  and  banishjed  fronj  all  the  sensi- 
ble amusements  of, -this  life,  it  must  and  will  be  a  wretch- 
ed creature  in  the  world  of  spirits,and  (hat  by  the  very  course- 
of  nature.  'And  Gtnl' cannot  be  obliged  to  change  |he  es- 
tablished •coiirse  of  nature  to  relieve  this  misery  which  the 
sinner  Jiad  wilfully  brought  on  himself;  nor  can  God  make 
him  happy  without. giving  him  a  new  temper  of  holiness, 
which  he  is  not  obliged  to  do  by  any  perfection  of  his  na- 
ture, or  any  promise  of  his  grace. 

.  If  .the  soilis  of  men  are  immortal,  such  will  their  pas- 
sions be,  their  desires,. their'fears,  and  their  sorrows.  Now 
their  natgral  desires  of •  happiness,  as  I  have  said,  will  be 
intense  and  strong,  when  G%od,  th^  spring  K)f  all  happi- 
ness, who  hath  been  renouftced^  and  abandoned  by  them, 
hath  now  forever  forsaken  them,  and  .separated  himself 
from  them.  What  can  there -remain  for  them  but  ever- 
lasting, darkness' and 'despair,  without  a  daw.n  of  hope 
through  all  the  ages  of , eternity  ?  Their  guilty  conscien- 
ces, with  the  views  of  God's  unchangeable  holiness,  will 
forever  fill  them  with  rvew  fears  and  terrors,  what  shall  be 
the  next  punishment  they  are  tc*  suffer.  Such  is  the  state 
of  devils  at'this  time,  who  expect  a  more  dreadful  punish-, 
ment  at  the  gneat  day,  as-'several  place's -oT  scripture  make 
evident.  Their  bein.g  immersed  in  the  guilt  of  sin,  and 
under  .the  constant  and  tyrannical  dominion  of  it,  will 
overwhelm  them  with  present  grief,  with  cutting  sorrows, 
and  horror  unspeakable,  which  will  sink  into  the  centre 
of  their  souls,  and  make  them  an  eternal  terror  and  plague 
to  themselves. 

tfgain,  let  us  consider  that  their  immortality  of  soul 
will  be  spent  in  '  thinking :'  and  what,  cojnfortable  or  hope- 
ful object  is  there  in  heaven^  earth,  or  hell,  on  which  they 
can  fix  or  employ  their  thoughts  for  one  moment,  to  give 
a  short  release  from  their  extreme  misery?  So  that  they 


• 


THE  PUNISHMENTS   IN  HELL.  290 

are  left  in  endless  successions  of  most  painful  thoughts  and 
passions  from  the  very  nature  of  things. 

Again,  slippose  this  body  of  mine  were  by  nature  im- 
mortal, and  was  designed,  by  my  Creator  in  its-  constitu- 
tion to  live  ibrever  ;  "and  suppose  by  my  own  folly  and 
madness,  my  own  wilful  indulgence  of  appetite  and  pas- 
sion, I  had  brought  some  dreadful  •  distemper  into  my 
flesh  which  was  found  to  be  incurable,  whether  it  be  the  gout 
or  the  stone,  or  some  more  terjible  malady  of  the  nervous 
kind,  must  not  this  gout,  by  necessity  of  nature,  become 
an  immortal  gout?  'Must  pofc  these  distempers  be -immor- 
tal distempers,  and  create  Eternal  pain?  And  is  th§  (*od 
of  nature  bound  to  work  a«mira*cle  to  cure -and  heal- these 
diseases-which  I  have  wilfully  brought  upon1  myself  by- my 
own  iniquities>  aad  that 'after  many  warnings?  Is.  it  un- 
righteous in  God  to  let  me  languish  on  arnklst  my  agonies 
and  groans  as  long  as  my  nature  .continues  in  being,  i.  e. 
to  immortality  ?  And  especially  when  there  are  valuable 
ends  in  divine  providence,  and'  God's  government  of  the 
world,  to  be  subserved^  by  suffering  such  wilful,  rebellious, 
and  impenitent 'creatures  to  become  sacrifices  to  their  own 
iniquity'  and  his  justice,  and  perpetual  monuments  to  other 
worlds  of  their  bwn  madness  ajid  *his  holiness.  Such'  is 
the  case  of  a  sinful  .spirit,  and  therefore  a  God  of  justice 
may  pronounce  upon  it,  and  execute  the  eternal  misery. 

§  II.  The.  strongest  and  most  plausible  objections 
against  the  perpetuity  of  hell  answered. 

I  think  these  reasons,  wh'ich  have  been  gij?en,  are  suf- 
ficient to  justify  the  ministers  of  the  gospel  .in  represent- 
ing the  punishments  of  hell  as  everlasting.  B.ut*nan,  sinful 
man,,  does  not  love  to  hear  of  this  dreadful  perpetuity  of 
hell.  They  w^uld  fain^find  some  period  to  these  sorrows, 
they  search  on.  every  si<]e  if  there  be  no  way'  for  Escape 
from  this  prison,  no  door*  of  me.rcy,  no  cranny  of  hope 
left  among. the  reasons  of  things,  or  among  the  attributes; 
or  the  transactions  of  the  blessed  God:  and  they  are  ever 
proposing  some  methods  to  cut  short  this  eternity,  which 
.scripture  ascribes  to  the  punishment  of  impenitent  sinners. 
I  shajl  endeavour  therefore  to  give  a  fair  and  plain  answer 
to- Hie  strongest  objections  against  this  doctrine  which  I  ev- 
er yet  have  met  with* 

The  first  objection  is  raised  from  a  ' criticism  on  the 
words  of  scripture.'  The  Greek  and  Hebrew  words,  say 


THE   ETERNAL  DURATION  OF 

they,  which  we  translate  .eternal  and  everlasting,  where 
the  torments  of  hell  are  mentioned,  are  not  always  used 
for  proper  and  complete  eternity,  they  sometinles  signify 
only  '  a  long  duration.'  So  God  gave  Abraham  and  his 
seed  the  laud  of  'Canaan  for  an  everlasting  .possession,' 
Gen.  xvii.  8,  but  n«w  the  '.Turks- possess  it.  Several  of 
the  statutes  of  the.  Levitical  law.Xvere  said'  to  be  everlast- 
ing, Lev.  xvi.  31,  but  they  are  all  abolished  ih  the  gospel. 
The  sons  of  AaTon  had  an»  ^everlasting  priesthood,  confer- 
red upon  themjExod.  xl.  15,  but  this  office  is  cancelled  by 
the  kingdom  of  Uie  Messiah,;  and  finished  forever.- 

lk'sides,let  it  be  remjemberecf,  Say  the  ebjcctors,'that  the 
Hebrew  and  Greek  words,  sigr.ify  <3nly  the  varieus  ages 
or  period's  of  trme'which  belong  to  the  duration  ef  crea-. 
tures,  or  to  some  constitutions  'of  God  concerning  his 
creatures:  and  .they  should  be  translated  an  age,  or  ages, 
more  properly  than  any  thiilg.  else.  And  the  Greek  ad- 
jective, when  applied"  to  creatures,.can  relate  only  to  these 
ages ;  but  these  expression?  wore  never  designed  to  enier 
into  God's' own  eternity^  either  ^before  the  existence  of 
this  world,  or  after  the  consummatien  of  it  :  upon  which 
rea'son  it  is  highly- improper  and  absurd  to -assert,*  that  the 
duration  or  punishment  of  .creatures  in  hefl  shall  be  prop- 
erly eternal  and  equal  to  the  duration  of  the  blessed  God 
himself.  NOW 'since  cyery  thing  in  God's;  transactions 
towards  creatures  is  sometimes' Jimited  by  these  terms,  or 
"ages,  which  are  periods  of  time  that  shall  Be  finished,  why 
may  not  the  damnation  and  th'e  -sorrows 'of  hell  be  also 
finished  and  cancelled  at  a  certain  length'o-f  years,  though 
the  common  words,  which%we  translate -'eternal'  and  'ev-' 
erlasthig",'.  be  ascViheJ  to  j.hem  in  Scripture  ? 

tfinsto.  I.  These- are.'the  -same  Words  beth  in  Greek  and 
Hebrew,  by  which  God  expresses  'his  own  eternity,' 
which  is  absolute  and  complete  Without  end..  He  is  'the 
everlasting  God,'  Gqn.  xxi.  33,  '.the  eternal  Goxl,  and  his 
everlasting 'arms','  Deut..  xxxiii.  2V,'  Rom.  i.  20,  and  xvj. 
2§,  and  several  other  -places.  These*  are  the' words  also 
by  which  the  scripture  expresses  the  duration- of  the  'fe- 
licities of  heaven,'  ahd  the  eternal  life  and  happiness  of 
the  saints,  Dan.  xii.  .2,  Rom,  vi.  23,  John  iii.  45,  &c. 
Now,  why  should  we  not  suppose  the*  same  words  to  sig-  • 
nify  the  same  duration,  when  the  .Old  or  New  Testament 
speaks  of  'everlasting  burnings'  as.the  vengeance  of  God 


THE  PUNISHMENTS  IN  HELL.  301 

against  the  wicked,  Isai.  xxxiii.  14,  or  <  everlasting  shame 
and  contempt  ?'  Dan.  xii.  2.  And  especially  where  the 
joys  of  the  saints^  and  the  misery  of  sinners,  are  set  in 
opposition  to  one  another  in  the  same-  text,  as  in  Dan.  xii; 
and  Matt.  xxvi.  45,  'The  wicked  shall  go  away  into  ev- 
erlasting punishment,  and  the  righteous  into  life  eternal  ?' 
And  yet  further,  when  we  find  this  doctrine  sufficiently 
confirmed  by  many  other  places  o'f  Scripture  which  set 
forth  the  eternity  of  these  torments  ?  I  grant  that  the 
eternity  of  God  himself,  before  this  world  began, or  after 
its  consummation,  has  something  in  it  so  immense  and  so 
incomprehensible,  thai  in  my  m,ost  mature  thoughts  I  do 
not  choose  to  enter  into  those  infinite  abysses  ;  nor  do  I 
think  we  ought  Usually,  when  we  speak  concerning  crea- 
tures, to  affirm  positively,  that  their  existence  shall  be 
equal  to  that  of  the  blessed  God,  especially  with  regard  to 
the  duration  of  their  punisiunent,  •  Perhaps  this  sort  of 
language  may  carry  in  it  something  beyond  what  we  are 
called  to  discourse  about,  at  Iqast  in  this  mortal  state,  and 
therefore  such  comparisons  are  rr\ore  safely  omitted. 

But,  I  would  remark  here  still,  thai  these  ages,  both  of 
reward  and  punishment,  which  are  pronounced  concerning, 
saints  or  sinners,  do  but  begin  in  their  perfection  at  the 
end  of  this  world  ;  and  thence  it  follows,  that  they  must 
enter  far  away  into  the  eternity  of  God's  existence  yet  to 
Come.  Arid  the  saints  will  be  made  happy,  and  the  .sin- 
ners will  be  punished,  for  long  ages  after  .the  end  of  this 
world,  and  all  the  ages  of  it. 

And  though  God,  by  his"  Spirit,  has  not  been  pleased  to 
make  this  comparison  expressly,  nor  assert  our  duration 
commensurate  with  his  own,  yet  he  is  pleased  to  express 
the  duration  of  the  punishment,  of  sinners  in  the  same' 
common  language  and  phrases,  whereby  he  expresses  his 
own  duration,  and  the  happine'ss  of -the  saints  :  and  here- 
by he  encourages  us  to  express  these  punishments  by  the 
same  common  words  in  our  language  too,  rather  than  ven- 
ture to  cat  them  short  by  a  Greek  or  Hebrew  criticism, 
without,  any  divine"  warrant  or  necessity. 

Now  are  there  any  sinned  so  void  of  understanding,  of 
so  daring  and  desperate  a  mind;  as  to  venture  their  'eter- 
nal all'  upon  such  a  poor  criticism*  of  words  ?  Even  upon 
supposition  that  these  terms  in  the  Greek  and  Hebrew 
might  signify  any  long  duration  short  of  eternity  :  yet 

2  A 


302  THB  ETERNAL  DURATION  OF 

there  is  a  terrible  hazard  in  confining  them  to  this  sense, 
since  they  do  rvot  denote  a  proper  eternity,  when  they 
describe  the  duration  of  the  blessed  God;  and  I  think 
we  may  add  also,  the  duration  of  the  happiness  of  the 
saints.  * 

Besides,  -let  it  bo  remembered,  that  the  other  expres- 
sions of  Scripture,  which  denote  and  pronounce  the  perr 
petuity  or  eternity  of  these  punishments,  are.'not  Imble  td 
the  same  criticism  or  ambiguity  of- a  word.  'Their  fire' 
shall  be  '  unquenchable,'  or  '  is  not  quenched,  their  worm 
dieth  not.  They  have  no  rest  day  r^or  night^  thejf  shadl  .be 
tormented  day  angl  night  forever  and  ever,'  Rev.  xx.  10. 
These  expressions  seem  to  carry  with  them  a  more  cei1- 
tain  signification  of  the  perpetual  continuance  of  the  pun- 

*  I  do  not  understand  -this  sentence,  as  it  stands  in  the  text  of  Watts. 
It  seems  to  be  an  admission  of  what  contradicts  and  overthrows  his  own  ar- 
gument, viz.  that  "  these  are  the  same  words,  both  in  Greek  aud  Hebrew, 
by  which  God  expresses  his  oiun  eternity,  which  is  absolute  and  complete, 
without  end."  Consistently  with  this  position  it  cannot  be  said, 'that  '•  they 
do  not  denote  a  proper  eternity  ;,"  for,  i?  the  eternity  of  .Gbd.be  not  proper 
and  absolute,  what  can-  be.  §uch  1  It  ought  to  read,  "  there  i§  a  terrible 
hazard  in  confining  them  to  this  sense,"  (the  sense  assumed  by  the  objec- 
tor,) "since  they  must  denote  a  proper  eternity,  when  they  describe  the  du-: 
ration  of  the  blessed  God,"  &c.  A  few  paragraphs  antecedent  to  this,  the- 
author  makes  another  concession,  which  i  thtnk  nearly  overturns  his  argu- 
ment, or  at  least  much  abates  its  force.  He  says,  "  Nor  do  I  think  we  ought 
usually,  when  we  speak  concerning  creatures,  to  affirm  positively,  that  their 
existence  shall  be  equal  to  that  of  the  blesse,<]  God,  especially  with  regard  to 
the  duration  of  their  punishment."  .By  "tlieir  existence,"  in  thrs  -very  ob- 
scure sentence,  I  suppose  that  the  author  means  the  duration  of  vheir  fu 
ture  existence  ;  for  I  cannot  suppose  him  guilty  of  the  absurdity  of  referring 
to  the  ihode  of  the  divine,  existence  in  this  connexion.  He  therefore  pp 
pears  to  signify  thai  we  should  not  affirm  positively,  that  our  future  exis- 
tence will  be  absolutely,  and  in'  this  respect,  like  the  existence  of  God,  with 
out  end,  ami  especially  that  the,  duration  of  punishment  will  be  intermina- 
ble; and. if  we  ought  not -to  affirm  i4  positively,  our  inability  to  do  so  must 
of  course,  be  owing  to  want  of  evidence — to  uncertainty.  This  is  giving 
up  the  very  point  which  the  author  has  undertaken  to-  prove  !  •  The  doc- 
trine of  future  existence,  although  entirely  agreeable  to  reason,  and  sup- 
ported by  it,  can  be  made  certain  to  our  minds,  only  b^  the  light  of  revela- 
tion. That  only  source  of  certain  evidence  on  this  p.-ui.t  employs  the 
strongest  terms  which  "language  affords,  to  express  the  interminable  exis- 
tence of  every  human  being:  and  it  u,ses  tho  same  terms  to  express  the 
endless  duration  of  the  punishment  of  v.ickeil  men  and  angels.  It  never 
suggests  a  single  doubt  of  the  aHsojujte  eternity  of  cither.  I  cannot  see, 
therefore,  by  what  rule  of  scrijAure,  or  of  reason,  we -can  be  required  '•  not 
to  affirm  positively,"  that  the  existence  of  rational  creatures  shall  not  be 
equal  in  its  future  duration  with  that  of  God,  or  that  the  punishment  of  the 
wicked  will  be  less  durable  than  their  eternal  existence. — ED. 


THE  PUNISHMENTS  IN  HELL.  303 

ishment.  Now  can  the  tempter  and  the  deceiver  of  souls 
have  so  unhappy  an  influence  over  you,  as  to  persuade 
you  to  venture  onward  in  the  paths  of  sin,  to  put  off  re- 
ligion, and  delay  your  repentance,  and  neglect  the  means 
of  salvation,  in  hopes  that  hereafter  this  weak  criticism, 
upon  some  of  the  threatening?,  may  take  place  hefore  the 
Judge. of  the  whote  eart.li,  and  thus  excuse  or  save  you  ? 
Is  not  such  a  sorry  refuge  and  presumption  a  dangerous 
and  a  dismal  sign  upon  impenitent-  sinners,  that  sin  and 
Satan  have  darkened  your  understanding,  and  confounded 
your  judgment,  as  well  as  hardened  your  hearts,  in  order 
to  your  everlasting  destruction  ?  ' 

lfl.nsio.  2.  Suppose  the  punishments  -of  hell  continue 
only  for  a  long  thrie,  and  not  for  an  endless  immortality, 
yet  this  time  would  'certainly  be  found  exceedingly  long 
for  sinners  to  hear  the  torment  even  according  to  their 
own  criticisms.  Let  us  consider  this  matter  .under  some 
particulars.  The.  Jewish  dispensation,  which  is  some- 
times called  'everlasting,'  stood  nearly  about  fifteen  hun- 
dred years,  from  Moses  io  Christ  ;  and  are  ye  content  to 
languish  and  gr&an  under  torments  and  miseries  for  fifteen 
hundred  years,  merely  to  satisfy  your  vicious  appetite  of 
pleasure  for  a  few  days  or  a  few  years  of  this  mortal  life  ? 
Jlguin  ;  the  '  rebellious  sinners,'  who. were  destroyed 
at  the  flood,  and  their  spirits,  which  were  sent  into  the 
prison  of  hades,  or  hell,  were  certainly  confined  there 
foui  and  twenty  hundred  years-:  and  if  they  were  released 
•then,  as  some  imagine,  by  the  preaching  of'Christ  to  them, 
it  is  a  long  and, dreadful  time  to  continue  under  the  ven- 
geance of  God  ;  and  is  it  worth  while  for  any  man  to 
.continue  in  sin  on  earth,  and  to  venture  this  length  of 
punishment  in  hell  J 

What  J  build  this  computation  upon,  are  some  expres- 
sions of  St.  Peter,  1  Epis't.  iii.  19',  2O,  where  Christ  is  «aid 
to  'preach  unto  the  spirits  in  prison,  which  sometime 
wertj  diso,be'flient,  when  once  the  long-suffering  of  God 
waited  in  the  days  of  Noah  ;'  some  have  supposed,  that 
this  text  informs,  us  of  Christ's,  descent  into  hell  after 
his  death,  and  then,  preaching  to  those  rebels  who  were 
drowned  in  the  flood  near  two  thousand  four  'hundred 
years  before,  in  order  to  awaken  them  to  repentance  and 
salvation  :  whereas  others  think  this  text  may  be  better 
expounded  concerning  the.spirit  of  Christ  given  to  Noah, 


304  THE  ETERNAL  DURATION  OF 

which  made  him  a  preacher  of  righteousness,  when  he 
foretold  and  threatened  a  flood  of  waters,  and  called  men 
to  repentance. 

But  if  it  should  be  granted,  that  those  rebellious  spirits 
among  the  dead  did  all- repent,  and  were  delivered  by  this 
preaching  of  Christ,  would  you  choosfe  to  indulge  the  de- 
lights of  sin  for  a  short  season,.and  Venture  twenty-four 
hundred  years  of  torment  and  anguish  for  it  ? 

Yet  further,  the  devils  have  lain  under  punishment  near 
six  thousand  years,  viz.  four  thousand  before  Christ  came, 
and  almost  two  thousand  years  since,  which  may  be  thus 
computed  from  whac  St.  Jude  says  of  them.     The  ^angels 
who  kept  not  their  first  station'  were  .'Cast  into  chains  of 
darkness,'  probably  before  the  creation  of  this  our  world  j 
for  they  were  fallen,  and  they  tempted  Adam  to  sin  as  soon 
as  this  world  was  made  :  and  they  had   been  confined  in 
these  chains  from  that  time  about  four  thousand  years  be- 
fore Christ   came,  and  are  waiting  still  for  yet  sharper 
punishment  at  the  judgment  of  the  -great  day,  Jude  vi ; 
and  it  is  evident  that  they  are  canscious  of  this  terror  and 
this  future  increase  of  punishment,  for  they  expostulated 
with  our  Saviour,  Matt.  viii.  29,  'Art  t!hou  come  to  tor 
ment  us  before  the  .time  ?'.    Now  it  is  near  two  thousand 
years   since  Christ  came,  and  from  the  time  of  their  sin- 
ning, unto   this  day,  it  is  almost  six  thousand  years  :  and 
when  the  great  day  of  judgment  comes,  their  fiercer  pun- 
ishment is  but  then  to  begin.     And  are  not  the  devil  and 
his  angels  sentenced  and  confined  to  dwell  together  with 
the  wicked   children  of  Adam,  when  they  shall  be  con- 
signed at  that  dreadful   day  to  the  same  '  everlasting  fire' 
and  torment,  which  was  prepared  for  those  evil   spirits  J 
And  who   knows  when   their  torment  will  end  ?     Now 
what  folly  and  hardness  <5f  heart,  or  rather  whai  madness 
is  k  for  men  to  continue  in  their  sins,  to  delay  their  re- 
turn to  God,  and  abandon  the  grace  of  the  gospel,  under 
this  foolish  flattery  and  wild  preeumptidn,  that  a'bov.e  six 
thousand   years  hence  perhaps  a  certain  day  may  come 
when  the  'worm'  of  conscience  will  die,  and  the  'fire'  of 
hell  will  be  quenched?     Sucli  presumption  is  madneSs 
and  distraction  rather  than  reasoning. 

The  'second  objection'  is  derived  from  the  'justice  and 
equity  of  God.'  -Surely  may  some  person  say,  the  justice 
of  God  will  proportion  the  punishment  to  the  offence 


THE  PUNISHMENTS  IN  HELL.  305 

f 

but  since  our  sins  are  but  the  actions  of  mortal  and  short- 
lived creatures,  and'#re  committed  in  a  few  years  of  time, 
why  should  the  ptlnishment  be  immortaj,  and  the  ages 
be  lengthened  out  to  eternity?  Can  a  righteous  God  pro- 
nounce such  a  severe  and  unjust  sentence,  and  execute  it 
in  its  full  dimensions  ? 

Jlnsw.  It  is  not  the  length  of  time  which  wicked  men 
spe"nt'in  committing  their  sins,  .nor  the.nature  of  the  per- 
sons \yho  have  sinned,  that  determines  the  measures  of 
punishment,  but  the  dignity  of  that  .infinitely ,  glorious 
Being,  against  *vhom  sin  is 'committed,  that  gives  such 
a  high  aggravation's  ,to  require  punishment  without  end. 
How  m'atfy  instances  are  there  among  men  wherein  offen- 
ders against  their  neighbours,  or  against  a  magistrate,  who 
spent  but  a  few  moments  in  the  crime,  yet  are  doomed  to 
imprisonment  for  months  and  years?  And  a  lower  degree 
of  trespass  against, a  king,  whiah  is  short  of  high  treason, 
is  sometimes  purjishecl  with  Confiscation  of  goo'ds,  and  with 
poverty  and  close  imprisonment  for  life.  And  by  the 
same  rea'son,  the'sins  of  men  being  committed  against  a 
Gpd  .of  infinite  majesty*  require  an  endless  punishment, 
as  I  have  proved  in  the  second  argument :  and  therefore 
divine,  justice  pronounces  or  inflicts  no  longer  penalty 
than  the  crimes  of  men  deserve,  according'to  their  aggra- 
vations. If.  any  sinners  tarry  then  till  they  have  paid  the 
utmost  farthing  tp  divine  justice;,  I  grant  God  will  release 
them,  but  he  h.as  given  us  i;o  nope  before. 

The  'third- objection' -is  drawn  from  'the  sovereignty 
and  goodness  of  God.'  It  is  granted,-,  say  they,  .that  the 
threatenings  o'f  eterndl  death  are1  denounced  against  sinners 
in  Scripture,  yet  it  is  not  necessary  God  should  execute 
them  to  the  full.  When  a  law  is  made,  the  threatenings 
of  it  6nly-  declare'  what  -punishment  the  offender  shall  be 
exposed  to,  and  shall  be  obliged  to  bear  when  it  is  in- 
flicted ;  but  these  expressions  in  a  law  do  not  oblige  the 
government  to  inflict  that  sentence  with  all  its  terrors.  It 
is  granted,  thai  in  the  case  of  promises,  truth  and  veracity 
oblige  the  promiser^to  fulfil  them  punctually,  because  the 
right  of  the  thiog  promised  passes  over* to  that  other  per- 
son to  whom  the  promise  was  made,  and  he  hath  such  a 
right  to  require  it,  that  it  is  injustice  to  withhold  it  from 
him ;  and  therefore  everlasting  felicity  must  be  given  to 
the  righteous  :  but  in  threatenings  the  case  is  otherwise  ; 
39  2  A2 


306  THE  ETKRXAL- DURATION  OF 

for  though  the  full  punishment  is  clue  to  sinners,  yet  they 
will  never  require  the  execution  of  it ;  and  the  goodness 
of  God  will  incline  him  to  relieve  the- sufferer,  and  to 
release  him  from  the  severity  of  such  a'punishment,  where 
his  veracity  or  truth  does  not  forhjd  it. 
To  this  I  answer  two  ways  : 

1st,  I  will  not  dehate  this  point  of  law-jiow,  how  far  a 
governor  of  sovereign  and  absolute'authority  can  dispense 
with  his  owji  threatenings,  can. omit  the*  execution  of'them, 
relax  the  degree  of  threatened  punishment,  or  shorten  the 
duration(of  it.  But  let  it  be -considered,'  that  here  is  not 
only  the  threatening  of  God,  the  universal  Governor,  but 
the  prediction  of  this  Sternal  punishment,  by  a  'God  who 
cannot  lie.'  God's  own  truth  and  veracity  are  concerne'd 
in  this  case,  since  his  -Son  Jesus,  who  is  the  greatest  of 
his  messengers,  together  with  the  Prophets  and  Apostles, 
have  in  the  .name  of  God  often  foretold,  that  these  punish- 
ments shall  be  eternal  :  and  therefore  whatsoever  an  ab- 
solute governor  might  do,  as  to  shortening  the  punishment 
threatened,  in  a  way  of  mercy  and  relaxation ;  yet  I  can- 
not see  how  t'he  truth  and  veracity  of  God  hi'mself,  or  the 
veracity  of  Iris  Son  Jesus  Christ,  who  is  the  great  Proph6t, 
or  the  truth  of  the  rest  of  his  prophets  and  messengers 
can  be  maintained,  if  this  punishment -be  not  executed 
according  to  the  many*express  'predictions  of  it.  These 
all  agree  to  tell  us,  by  inspiration  from  heavenr  in  various 
forms  of  speech,  that  the  -torments  of  hell  shall  be  ever- 
lasting ;  and  (as  I -hinted  be'fiore)  the  man  Jesus  who  pro- 
nounces this  eternal  sentence  as  aLord  and  a  Judge,  foretels 
it  also  as  a  Prophet,  that  the.  execution  of  it  shall  be  to 
all  everlasting.  '.  . 

»fl.nsw.  2.  Obstinate  and  impenitent  sinners  have  no 
reason  to  expect,  that  the  goodness  of  God  should  release 
them  from  their  miseries,  .since  the  justice  and  the  holi- 
ness, the  righteous  government  and  authority  of  God  iti 
his  law  require  and  demand  their  due  of  honour,  as.  well 
as  his  goodness.  Do  we  not  see  that  these  honours  of 
divine  justice,  and  of  God's  hatred  o£  sin,  have  been  con- 
tinually demanded  and  executed<  in  the'  infinite  and 'in- 
numerable evils,  sorrows,  miseries,  diseases  and  deaths, 
that  have  been  spread  over  this  world  almost  six  thousand 
years  because  of  sin  ?  Nor  does  his  goodness  forbid  or 
hinder  it 


THE  PUNISHMENTS  IN  HELL.  307 

And  let  it  be  remembered  .too,  that  all  this  immense 
variety  aHd  long  succession  of  plagues  and  terrors  arose 
originally  from  the  just   indignation  and  resentment  of 
God  against  one  sin,  even  that  of  the  first'man.  Who  was 
it  that  burnt  Sodom»aHd  Gomorrah  with  fire  from  heaven  ? 
Who  was  it  that  chained  fallen  angels  in  darkness  to  a 
more  terrible  judgment?.  Was  it  no.t  a  God  of  .supreme 
goodness  ?  Whotsent  famines,  and  pestilences',  and  slaugh- 
ters all  over  the  earth  in  many  distinct  .generations,  where- 
by mankind  have  been  made-  abundantly  wretched,  and 
plunged  into  millions  of  distresses?  And  yet  the  goodness 
of  God  abides  forever.  And  while  the  great  God  is  acting 
according  to  the  glories  of  his.  nature  and  government  in 
punishing  rebellious* creatures,  his  goodness  will  feel  no 
soft  and  sensible  impressions  from  all  their  groans'  and 
outcries ;  but  if  I  may  so  express  it,  will  be  changed  into 
just  indignation  without  end.    And  the  language  of  it  to 
those  impenitent  wretches  will  be",  this,  'because  I  have 
called  and  ye  refused,  ye  have  set  at  naught  al\  my  counsel 
and  would  none  of  myt  reproof,  I  will  laugh  at  your  cala- 
mity, I  will  mock  when   your  fear  cometh  ;  when '  your 
fear  cometh  as  desolation,  an<J  your  destruction  as  a  whirl- 
wind, when  distress  and  anguish  cometh  .upon  you,  then 
tfhall  ye  call  upon  me,  but  I  will  not  answer.;  ye  shall  seek 
me  early,  but  ye  shall   not  find  me ;  for  ye  hated  know- 
ledge, and  did  not  choose  the  fear  ef  the  Lord  ;  ye  would 
none  of  my  counsels,'  ye  despised  all  my  rebukes ;  there- 
fore shall  ye  eat  of  the  fruit  of  your  own  way,  and  be 
filled  with  your-own  devices.'     Take  tfiem,  angels,  'bind 
them  hand  and  foot,   and  cast  tliem  into  everlasting  fire 
•and  utter  darkness  :  there  shall  be  weeping,  and  wailingr 
and  gnastiing  of  teeth,'  Prov.  i.  ^latt.  xxii.  13. 

Let  us  cease  then  to  murmur  against  the  threatenings 
and  the  transactions  -of.  the  great  God,  till  we  are  become 
fitter  judges- of  his  perfections  and  their  demands.  Let  us 
cavil  no  more  against  his  conduct" dnd  government,  till  we 
can  teach  him  how  far  his  punishing  justice  shall  go  in 
the  execution  of  his  threatenings,  and  till  we  can  assign 
to  him  the  point  and  limit  where  his  goodness  shall  inter- 
pose and  restrain  that  justice. 

The  'fourth  objection'  is  derived  from  the  'rectitude  of 
the  nature  of  God,'  or  'his  common  equity  and  mercy 
united,'  which  has  been  represented  in  this  manner.  Sup- 


308  THE  ETERNAL  DTTRATION'OF 

pose  one  of  the  damned  spirits  among  mankind  should  ad- 
dress himself  to  the  great  God  in  such  sort  of  language  as 
this,  "Lord,  . I  was  created  hy  thy  sovereign  pleasure 
without  my.ovru  will,  I  did  not  desire,  to  be  made,  much 
less  to  be  born  in  such  a  relation-  tt)  Adam,  whereby  J 
brought  a  sinful  nature  into  the  world  with  me  ;  but  1  was 
united  by  thy  power  and  pleasure  to  -a  body  which  had 
the  seeds  of  sin  and  misery. in  it.  There  were  strong 
appetites  and  violent  passions  mingled  with  my  flesh  and 
blood,  which  I  myself  had  no  hand  in  procuring  ;  they 
fermented  in  me  with  much  vehemence,  and  I  was 
tempted  to  many  excesses  :  I  made  some  resistance  at 
first,  and  many  times  tried  to  subdue  them,  but  I  was 
overcome.  At  last  I  suffered  myself  to  be  carried  away 
by  the  stream  of  these  sinful  affections  and  appetites  which 
I  could  hot  possibly  avoid,  nor  easily  subdue.  Is  it  agree- 
able to  thin-e  equity,  0  blessed  God,  to  punish  such  a  poo*- 
wretch  with  everlasting  torments?  And  can  thy  mercy 
continue  to  fee  this  my  misery  -forever  and  ever,  and  not 
help  me  ?  I  intreat  thee,  0  thou  almighty  .Author  of  my 
being,  to  destroy  and  annihilate  me  utterly  soul  and  body; 
take  away  this  being  which  I  never  asked  nor  desired  ; 
nay,  which  I  would  not  have  'consented  to  accept  among 
the  sinful  race.of  mankind,  because  in  this  track  of  genera- 
tion and  existence  I  stood  much  more  likely* to  be  misei»- 
able  than  to  be  happyV 

•fttisw.  1st.  As-  for  the  reasonableness  and  equity  of  the 
conveyance  and  communication  of  the  original  effects  of 
the  sin  of  <  Adajn*  through  every  generation  of  man,  it  is 
granted  there  are  some  difficulties  attending  it ;  bjjt  these 
are  generally  answered  by  the  writers  on  that  subject ;  and* 
for  me  to  divert  from  my  present  discourse,  in  oruer  to  de- 
bate this  point  here,  would  be  too  tedious. 

The  equity  .of  this  wise  and  a,wful  constitution  of  God 
has  been  lately  vindicated  in  a  large  treatise  bn  the  '  ruin 
and  recovery  of  mankind,'  especially  in  the  second  edition 
of  that  book.  But  it  is  enough  for  my  present  argument 
to  say,  that  God  .himself  will  make  the  equity  of  this  con- 
stitution to  appear  with  much  more  evidence  and"  con- 
viction in  the  last  great  day,  when  millions  of  actaal  crimi- 
nals shall  stand  before  the  judgment-seat,  who  owe  the 
first  spring  of  their  sin  and  rain  to  our  common  parent,  and 
yet  will  fall  under  the  righteous  condemnation  of  the  judge. 


THE  PUNISHMENTS   IN   HELL.  309 

Jlnsw.  2.  When  God  decreed  to.  give  thee  a  being,  0 
sinner,  and  designed  thee  in  his  eternal  ideas  to  be  a  man, 
placed  among,  a  thousand  blessings  of  nature  and  provi- 
dence, it  was  then  a  favour  of  thy  Creator  ;  for  thou  wert 
designed  also  in-  this  original  divine  idea  to  have  full  suffi- 
ciency of  power  to  become  wise  and  happy.  It  was  also 
a  favour  from  thy  Creator,  that  he  look  all  these  thy  suffi- 
ciencies of  power,  and  put  them  into  the  hand  of  one  man, 
even  the  father  of  thy  face,  because  he. was  as  wise,  and 
holy,  and  as  wall  able  as  any  man  of  his  posterity  could 
be.,  to  preserve  his  siati6r>  in  the  favour  of  God,  and  to-  se- 
cure thy  happiness  together  with  his  own;  and -he  hfad 
much  stronger  obligations  to  obey  his  Maker,  aid  more 
powerful  motives  to  sepure  thy  happiness  than  thou  thy- 
self, or  any  single  man  could  possibly  have^  because  he  was 
intrusted  with  the  felicity  of  so  miny  millions  of  his  own 
dear  offspring,  as  well  as  his  own.  Now  though  Adam, 
thy  first  father,  being  thus  furnished  with  sufficiencies  of 
power,  and  with  the  strongest  obligations  to  preserve  him- 
self and  thee,  has  actually  sinned  and  ruined  himself  and 
'bis  offspring  ;  (this  is  indeed  an  unhappy  truth  ;)  but  tlie 
great  God  is  not  to  blame,  who  lias  not  only  acted  wisely 
but  kindly  towards  his  creatures  in  this  constitution,"  be- 
cause so  far  as  we  can  judge,  it  was  much  more  probable 
that  Adam  would  have  maintained  his  innocence  and  his 
happiness,  together  with  that  of  his  offspring. 

•Again,  when  the  race  of  man  was  ruined,  and  God  saw 
thaf  every  man  would  come  into  the  vrorld  under  unhappy 
circumstances  of  guilt  and  co'rruption  pf  nature,  he  provid- 
ed a  covenant  of  grace,  and  brought  th^e  into  some  know- 
ledge of  it.  Aad  this  had  been  effectual  to  have  recover- 
ed and  saved  thee  from  the  ruins  of  the  fall  if  thou  hadst 
exerted  all  thy  force,  employed  .all  thy  natural  powers  of 
understanding  and  will  for  this  purpose,  and  used  all  thy 
diligence  to  follow  the  'methods  of  his  grace,  and  hadst 
sought  earnestly  for  divine  aids.  For  there  is  no  man 
among«ihe  da.mned  who  is  able  to  say, l  I  have  done"  every 
thing  that  was  in  my  power  to  do.'  No  man  shall  be  con- 
demned for  what  was  utterly  impossible  for  him  to  avoid. 
'It  is  conlessecl  indeed,  ttou  art  laid  under  some  hardships 
and  difficulties  by  the  sin.of  thy  first  father  ;  yet  it  is  thine 
own  actual  and  personal  crimes-  for  which  thou  art  here 
condemned  at  this  judgment,  wherein '  every  one  shall  be' 


310  THE  ETERNAL  DURATION  OF 

judged  and  'rewarded  according  to  his  works.'  It  is  for 
many  wilful  offences  against  the  law  of  God,- and  for  sin- 
ning against  the  offers  of  divine  grace';  it  is*  for  obstinacy 
against  thy  own  conscience,  ajid  all  the  outward  and  in- 
ward monitions  of  thy  duty,  thatthou  art  fallen  under  this 
sentence,  and  because  thou  didst* not*  labour' and  strive 
against  sin.,  and  resist  it  even  to  the  end  of  thy  state  of  life 

^(1  trial.  Thou  hasfhad  numy^an  in  ward -reproof  for  sin, 
many  a-  S9cret  gr  public,  call  to  virtue,  and  perhaps  loud 
and  fa^v  warnings  of  thy  danger;  but  thou  hast  turned  a 
deaf  car  to  the.m  all,  and  it  is  thy  bwn'folly,  obstinacy,  and  . 
iniquity,  that  lr«ve  brought  thee  into  this  misery,  and  ftlbu 
must  eot  the  fruit  of  thy  own  works. 

If  there  should  be  any  person  found  indeed  among  Jews, 
Gentiles,  or  Christians,  who  ean  justly  complain,  *i. 
have  not  had  a  fair  and  full  state  of  trial,  and  yet  I  am  con- 
demned,' I  think  \vc  may  grant  that  the  righteous  God 
will  release  such  from  their  misery,  after  they  have  worn 
out  a  proper  number  of  years  in  punishment  proportion- 
able to, their  past  crime's  ;  and  that  there  shall  be  a  fair,  and 
full,  and  proper  state  of*trial  aprjoirfted  to  the'm  before  they 
shall  he  utterly  and  irretrievably  miserable.  But  if  no 
such  person  be  found  th^r.e,  if  there  be  no  such  just' com- 
plaint to  be  made  among  the  m'UUon's'of.the  damned,  then 
they  may  be  still  ^continued  in  their/  prison  and  pun- 
ishment without  any  imputation  upon' divine  justice,  and 
equity. 

jlnsw.  3.  Whensoever  any  such  criminal  in  hell  shall 
be  found  making  such  a  sincere  and  mournful  address  to 
the  righteous  and  merciful  Judge  of  all,  if  at  the  same  time 
he  is  truly  humble  and  penitent  for  his  -past  sins,  and  is 
grieved  -at  his  heart  for  having  offended -his  Maker,  and 
melts  into  sincere  repentance,  I  cannot  think  that  a  God 
of  perfect  equity  apd  rich  mercy  will  continue  such  a  crea- 
ture under  his  verigea'nce  ;  but  rather,  that  the  perfections 
of  God  will  contrive  a  way  for  escape,  though  God  has 
not  given  us  here  any  revelation  or  discovery  of  siren  spe- 
cial grace  as  this-. 

But  on  the  other  hand;  whatever  melting  and  moving 
speeches  may  be  made  by  sinners  nepe  on  earth,  in  com-' 
passion  to  the  sinners  who  are  gone  before  them  to  hell  ; 
yet  if  no  such  person  be  ever  found  in  hell,  truly  and  hum- 
bly repenting  of  his  sins,  nor  have  We  any  reason  to  think 


THE  PUNISHMENTS  IN  HELL.  311 

there  ever  will,  why  should  a  righteous  God  be  obliged 
to  cease  punishing  a  rebel  who  only  is  vexed  and  raged 
under  his  own  chains,  and  who  continued  in  the  spirit  of 
obstinacy  and  rebellion  against  God,  and-  will  not  repent 
oftt? 

•Objection  the  fifth'  is  derived  from  the t  mercy  afhd  com- 
passion of  Gpd,  compared  with  the  mercy  and  cempassion 
of  man.'  Surely  the  compassion  of  the  ever-blessed  God, 
who  has  described  himself  rich  in  -mercy,  ahnndant  in 
goodness,  and  whose  very  name  is  'love,'  1  John  iv.  8, 
must  have,  transcendant  tenderness  and  pity  towards  his 
creatures,  the  work  of  hjji  hands,  above  'all  the  compas- 
sions that  any  one  fellow-creature -can  express  torwards 
another.  Now  the  -very  •  thought  and  -name  of  eternal 
punishments,  or  endless  terment,  is  such  as  seems  to  shock 
the  nature  of  a  good-natured  man  ;.and  though  he  was  ev- 
er so  much  injured,  ye.t  he  would  never  have  a  thought  of 
wishing  his  enemy  any  kind  of  eternal  punishment  for 
it,  much  less  of  condemning  him  to  everlasting  "misery, 
and  supporting  him  in  being  on  puitoose  to  suffer  it  ;  and 
therefore  we  cannot  suppose  that  God  will  dp  it. 

This  < -objection'  is  further  strengthened  by  an  expres- 
sion of  our  Saviour  himself,  who  says,  Mark,  xviii-  19, 
'  There  is  norce  good,  save  one,  that  is  God  :'  as  much  as 
to  say,  there  is  none  equal  or  comparable  in  goodness  to 
God  himself.  -And  it  is -further  supported  still  by  the 
common  notions  which  good  men  have  of  God  ;  those  ex 
pressions  in  the  apocryphal  writings  confirm  it,  2  Esd.. 
v.  33,  '  Then  said  the  Lord  unto  me,  thou  art  sore  troub- 
led in  mind  for  Israel  ;  lovestthoy  that  people  more  than 
he  that  made  them  ?'  And  in  the  same  book,  chap.  viii. 
47,  *  Thou  comest  far  short,  that  thou  shouldst  be  able  to 
love  my  creature  more  than  I.'  Now  since  no  good  man 
couJd  wish*  such  a  curse  or  mischief  to  his  worst  and  most 
wicked  enemy,  as  torment  without  end,  surely  we  cannot 
conceive  the  great  God  will  ever  be  so  severe  as  to  inflict  it 

Jlnsw.  1st.  It  is  readily  allowed,  that  God  has  more 
goodness  than  any  creatifre,  but  God  has  also  more  wisdom 
and  knowledge,  which  concur  with  his  goodness  in  all 
his  actions,  and  he  forms  a  much  juster  judgment  concern- 
ing the  evil  and  demerits  of  sin  and  rebellion  against 
himself,  than  it  is  possible  for  any  creature  to  form.  And 
I  think  I  may  boldly  assert,  »one  can  know  the  com- 


312  THE  ETERNAL  DURATION  OP 

plete  evil  of  sin,  or  its  full  desert,  but  that  same  glorious 
Being  against  whom  sin  is  committed,  who  knows  well 
the  dignity -of  his  own  nature  and  his  own  law,  and  what 
unspeakable  injury  is  done  thereto  by  the  sins  of  men. 
Now  his  goodness  in  all  his  transactions  must  be  regulated 
and  limited1  by  this  infinite  wisdom  ;  and  if  a  man  dots  not 
see  and  consent  to  the  just  demerits  of  sin  against  his  Ma- 
ker, it  is  because  he  has  less  wisdom  and  knowledge  than 
the  great  God  hasj  and  his  tend*ernes£  and  compassion  may 
run  into  very  great  excesses,  and  may  be  in  some  instances 
a  sign  of  his  weakness  and  folly,  as  well  as  of  his  goodness 
and  pity,  as  I  shall  shew  under  .the  next  answer. 

At  ^present  let  us-'represent  the  case  in  a  common  in- 
stance. When  criminals'  go  tor  execution  from  month  to 
month,  or  from  year  to  year,  in  this  great  city ;  and  espe- 
cially if  some  of  them  have  a  handsome  and  agreeable 
appearance,  and  if  they  are  wringing  their  hands  with 
outcries;  and  vexing  their* own  hearts,  and  are  stung  by 
their  ofon  consciences  for  their  having  brought  this  mis- 
ery upon  themselves,  you  will  finfl  several  of  the  specta- 
tors of  so  tender  a  make  as  to  grieve  for  the  execution  of 
such  criminals,  and  to  wish  in  their  hearts  it  was  in  their 
power  to  save  them.  And  yet  further,  if  there  are  num- 
bers of  these  wicked  creatures  that  are  sent'at  once  to  the 
punishment  of  the  sword  or  the  gallows,  there  maybe 
many,  of  these  spectators  grieving  for  them,  and  pitying 
them,  and  perhaps  exclaiming  against  the  severity  of  the 
law,  and  the  cruelty  of  the  judge,  for  condemning  such 
malefactors  to  death. 

But  do  all  these  weepers  arid  complainers  judge  justly 
of  the  case  ?  Do  they  consider  how  pernicious  and  ruinous 
a'thing  it  would  be  to  a  government  to  let  such  traitors  go 
unpunished  ?  Do  they  know,  that  it  is  a  piece  of  clemency 
and  goodness  to  the  innocent  to  punish  the  witked  ?  Or 
that  it  is  a  piece  of  necessary  honour  due  to  the  laws,  to 
make  those  who  insolently  break  them  sustain  the  penalty 
that  the  law  has  appointed?  Do  they  remember  that  the 
few  good  qualities,  or  supposed  talents,  or  fine  appearances 
which  these  offenders  are  possessed  of,  should  out-weigh 
the  demands  of  the  law  and  justice,  the  peace  of  the 
nation  or  kingdom,  and  the  restraint  of  others  from  the 


same  crimes 


»ftnsui.  2.  The  goodness  of  God,  the  eternal  Spirit,  is  a 


THE  PUNISHMENTS  IN  1IELL.  313 

much  superior  thing  to  the  tenderness  and  compassion  of 
man  dwelling  in  flesh  and  blood.  Man  grows  compas- 
sionate hy  a  sort  of  sympathy  or  sensation  of  miseries 
which  his  fellow-creatures  endure  ;  and  though  this  is 
exceedingly  useful  for  many  purposes  of  human  life,  and 
therefore  God  planted  it  in  our  natures ;  yet  it  has  so  much 
mixture  of  animal  nature  with  it,  that  it  frequently  de- 
generates into  weakness,  fondness,  and  folly.  And  indeed, 
if.  every  tender  creature  must  be  gratified  in  this  weakness, 
and  form  the  rules  of  government,  there  would  never  a 
malefactor  fall  under  execution,  but  the  vilest  criminals 
would  be  spared,  though  the  government  were  ruined. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  goodness  or  mercy  of  God  is  a 
sedate  willingness  or  design  to  do  good  to  creatures,  and 
particularly  to  the  miserable,  but  always  according  to  the 
directions  of  wisdom  and  holiness.  As  God  cannot  have 
such  anger,  resentment,  or  cruelty  in  his  nature,  as  man- 
kind may  fall  into  when  they  are  punishing  offenders,  so 
properly  speaking,  he  has  no  such  sort  of  passionate  tender- 
ness and  sympathy  in  sparing  them.  Though  the  words 
of  greatest  affection  are  sometimes  used  by  the  sacred 
writers  to  figure  out  the  mercies  of  God  to  man ;  yet  God 
both  punishes  and  spares  according  to  the  calm  and  righ- 
teous exercises  of  his  wisdom,  and  not  under  the  influence 
of  such  passions  as  we  feel. 

Since  therefore  the  exercise  of  such  sort  of  passions 
among  men  oftentimes  appears  to  be  the  weakness  of  na- 
ture, joined  with  their  ignorance  of  the  rules  of  equity, 
is  it  reasonable  that  the  great  and  all-wise  God  should 
make  such  creatures  his  patterns  in  the  limitation  of  the 
exercises  of  his  justice  ?  Or  that  he  should  be  as  weak  as 
they  are,  and  as  much  moved  to  swerve  from  the  rules  of 
his  own  righteous  government  by  such  a  sort  of  tenderness 
as  ignorant,  weak  and  foolish  man  may  sometimes  express 
towards  criminals  in  their  deserved  misery  ? 

It  is  readily  granted,  that  a  wise  and  a  good  man  may 
and  ought  to  be  sorry  and  grieved,  that  any  of  his  fellow- 
creatures  should  be  so  vicious  as  to  bring  themselves  under 
so  severe  a  penalty  by  their  own  wilful  crimes;  but  still 
in  their  calmest  and  wisest  thoughts  they  acknowledge 
the  wisdom  and  equity  of  the  government,  in  inflicting 
auch  penalties  upon  those  who  heinously  offend,  and  they 
acquiesce  in  the  sentence  and  the  execution. 
40  2B 


314  THE  ETERNAL  DURATION  OF 

Our  blessed  Lord  Jesus  himself,  who  was  the  wisest 
and  the  best  of  creatures,*  looked  upon  the  city  of  Jeru- 
salem with  an  eye  of  compassion,  'and  wept  over  it/ 
Luke  xiii.  34,  "0  Jerusalem,  Jerusalem,  thou  that  killest 
the  prophets,  and  stonest  them  that  are  sent  unto  thee, 
how  often  would  1  have  gathered  thy  children  as  a  hen 
doth  gather  her  brood  under  her  wings,  and  ye  would  not  ? 
Therefore  behold  your  house  is  left  unto  you  desolate." 
Let  it  be  observed  here,  that  our  Saviour  had  the  bowels 
and  compassions,  and  tenderness  of  the  best  of  men ;  but 
he  still  maintains  the  vindictive  exercise  of  the  govern- 
ment of  God.  "Your  desolation  must  and  shall  come  upon 
you,  nor  will  I  forbid  or  withhold  it."  And  I  am  sure 
the  human  nature  of  our  blessed  Saviour  was  formed  near- 
est to  the  image  of  God  beyond  any  creature  besides  : 
and  as  I  have  hinted  before,  it  is  he,  who  is  the  supreme 
messenger  of  his  Father's  love,  that  has  pronounced  these 
eternal  punishments  upon  impenitent  sinners  in  many 
parts  of  his  ministry. 

t/insw.  3.   How  far  will  these  objectors  permit  the  jus- 
tice of  God  to  go  in  the  punishment  of  impenitent  sinners  ? 
If  eternal  punishment  must  neither  be  threatened  nor  in- 
flicted, lest  divine  goodness  be  injured,  then  all  mankind, 
even  the  worst  and  vilest  of  criminals,   must  certainly  be 
one  day  delivered  from  their  miseries ;  and  thus  the  great 
God,  who  is  infinitely  offended,  is   bound  to  finish    his 
wrath  one  day,   and   return  in  mercy  to  the  offenders, 
whether  they  return  to  him  by  repentance  or  no.    What ! 
may  the  criminal  rebel  creature  with  impudence  and  spite 
affront  the   Creator  infinitely,  and  must  not  the  Creatoi 
have  a  right  to  demand  equal  vengeance  ?  No,  he  musf 
not,  according  to  these  writers  :  for  if  the  essential  good 
ness  of  God  do  certainly  forbid  eternal  punishments,  these 
absurdities,  as  gross  as  they  appear,  will  be  the  necessary 
consequences  of  it :  And  though  the  creature  be  not  re- 
strained from  sinning,  yet  the  blessed  God  will  be  utterly 
restrained  from  punishing.  And  Is  this  a  doctrine  fit  to  be 
believed  by   Christians,  or  to  be    taught  by  those  who 
have  no  commission  for  it  from  their  Bible  ?  Or  indeed, 
will  the  light  of  nature  and  reason  ever  justify  and  sup- 
port this  sort  of  pleading? 

*  I.  e.  as  to  his  human  nature, — ED. 


THE  PUNISHMENTS  IN  HELL.  315 

*  Objection  the  sixth'  is  drawn  from  the  'wisdom  of  God 
in  his  government  of  the  world.'  Surely,  will  the  sinner 
say,  it  was  for  some  valuable  end  that  God  at  first  pro- 
nounced punishment  to  attend  the  sins  of  his  creatures, 
for  'he  does  not  afflict  willingly,  nor'  delight  to  'grieve 
the  children  of  naen.'  His  design  must  be  therefore  one 
of  these  two  things  ;  either  to  correct  and  reform  the  sin- 
ners whom  he  punishes,  and  reduce  them  to  their  duty, 
in  order  to  partake  of  his  mercy,  or  else  it  must  be  to 
'maintain  a  public  monument  and  demonstration  of  his 
justice,'  and  to  support  the  authority  of  his  law,  and  hon- 
our of  his  government,  that  he  may  deter  other  creatures 
from  sinning  against  him.  But  when  this  world  is  come  to 
its  period,  and  his  governing  providence  over  it  is  finished, 
and  all  the  means  of  grace  are  ended,  the  first  end,  viz.  'cor- 
rection and  reformation'  ceases.  There  is  no  more  hope  of  re-  . 
forming  such  sinners  as  these.  And  what  further  need  can 
there  be  of  the  secondary  design  of  punishment,  viz.  the 
'demonstration  of  his  justice'  in  so  terrible  a  manner  to 
'restrain  others  from  sinning,'  when  the  state  of  our  trial  is 
ended,  and  all  mankind  are  sent  either  to  heaven  or  hell  ? 

•flnsw.  1.  I  might  here  reply,  by  way  of  concession, 
that  if  there  were  no  other  intelligent  creatures  to  be  wit- 
nesses of  these  eternal  demonstrations  of  God's  holiness, 
his  justice  and  his  hatred  of  sin ;  and  if  God  himself  was 
the  only  Being  who  knew  of  these  eternal  punishments, 
I  acknowledge  I  cannot  see  sufficient  reason  for  this  end- 
less duration  of  them  ;  I  cannot  give  any  probable  ac- 
count wjiy  creatures,  who  are  liever  to  be  corrected  and 
reformed,  should  be  tormented  forever  in  secret ;  God 
perfectly  knows  hi's  own  holiness  and  justice  without  such 
monuments  of  it;  and  since  he  has  asserted  this  punish- 
ment, T  think  there  must  he  some  creatures  to  receive  a 
moral  influence  from  the  knowledge  of  it. 

I  answer  Sclly,  when  there  is  a  representation  made  of 
the  punishment  of  the  worshippers  of  the  beast,  in  Rev. 
xiv.  10,  11, 'that  'they  shall  drink  of  the  wine  of  the  wrath 
of  God  which  is  poured  out  without  mixture,  and  they 
shall  be  tormented  with  fire  and  brimstone,  and  the  smoke 
of  their  torment  ascendeth  forever  and  ever,'  it  is  'in  the 
presence  of  the  holy  angels'  as  well  as  in" the  'presence  of 
the  Lamb.'  Angels  and  other  innocent  beings  may  im- 
prove such  a  sight  to  valuable  purposes. 


316  THE  ETERNAL   DURATION  OF 


the  seventh,  When  we  remember  that  Jesus 
Christ  himself  hath  assured  us  that  'hut  few  shall  be  saved,' 
and  that  the  broad  way  is  full  of  sinners  runnirig  down  to 
destruction  and  death;  if  we  suppose  these  punishments 
to  be  endless,  some  will  be  ready  to  say,  What!  shall  the 
greatest  part  of  God's  creatures  he  made  miserable  forever 
and  ever?  Is  this  consistent  with  the  wisdom  and  good- 
ness of  the  blessed  God,  to  form  such  an  immense  multi- 
tude of  souls  dwelling  in  bodies,  to  make  them  forever 
miserable?  What  will  a  God  of  goodness  have  to  prove  his 
goodness  to  his  creatures,  if  far  the  greatest  part  of  them 
are  left  in  everlasting  sorrows?  * 

*fl.nsw.  The  far    greatest  part  of  the   creation  of  God 
may  be  holy  and  happy.still.     For  this  world  of  ours,  ev- 

*  How  can  the  goodness  of  God  be  proved  to  wicked  creatures  ?     They 

will  assent  to  the  evidence  of  his  goodness,  only  while  they  are  left  to  fol- 

low their  inclinations  with  impunity.  But  God,  as  the  moral  Governor  of  the 

universe,  as  essentially  holy  and  just,  cannot  leave  the  violators  of  his  law 

unpunished.     To  treat  the  obedient  and  disobedient  alike,  would  be  oppos- 

ed to  all  our  ideas  of  justice,  and  would  effectually  obliterate  all  distinction 

between  virtue  and  vice,  holiness  a,nd  wickedness.     As  soon  as  a  wicked 

creature  becomes  the  subject  of  deserved  punishment,  no  proof  that  can  be 

offered,  will  satisfy  him  that  God  is  good.     The  impenitent  sinner's  notion 

of  goodness  is  inaccurate  and  selfish.     Whatever  falls  in  With  his  preferred 

enjoyments  and  pursuits,  is  good  in  his  esteem  ;  whatever  crosses  or  destroys 

them,  he  views  as  evil.     Therefore,  evil  is  his  good,  and  what  is  truly  good, 

he  pronounces  evil.     A  holy  creature  perceives  and  experiences,  in  every 

thing  and  every  where,  manifest  proofs  of  the  goodness  of  God  ;  in  the 

punishment  itself  of  the  wicked,  he  discovers  this,  as  it  restrains  them  from 

working  deeper  and  more  diffusive  evil.     Had  .all  the  transgressors  of  man- 

kind, instead  of  a  part  of  them,  been  subjected  to  deserved  punishment,  there 

could  have  been  no  objection  raised  from  this  against  the  goodness  of  God, 

among  those  who  perceive  the  consistency  of  goodness  and  justice,  and 

who.  cannot  deem  that  being  perfectly  good,  who  is  not  at  the  same  tinir 

perfectly  just.     That  any  part  of  guilty  men  ai<;  saved,  and  saved  too  in  en- 

tire consistency  with  justice,  is  indeed  a  wonderful  illustration  of  the  good- 

ness of  God,  as  well  as  of  his  other  attributes.     But  without  depending  up- 

on the  hypothetical  answer  to  this  objection  which  follows  in  the  text,  it  is 

sufficiently  met,  by  denying  that  God  formed  a  single  soul  to  be  miserable, 

and  by  affirming  the  truth,  that  the  "  immense  number"  spoken  of,  have 

rendered  themselves  miserable,  by  violating  the  laws  of  thpir  moral  being. 

Every  one  will  acknowledge  the  impossibility  of  being  healthy   and  free 

from  pain,  if  we  neglect  the  laws  of  our.  physical  being  ;  and  no  one  will 

impute  the  sufferings  which  our  negligence  ha?  incurred,  to  any  want  of 

goodness  in  God.     Why  then  should  that  misery  be  imputed  to  any  defect 

in  the  divine  goodness,  which'  men-bring  upon  themselves  by  transgressing 

the  laws  of  their  moral  being"!     And  why   should  any  dream,  that  either 

at  death,  or  at  some  undefined  period  beyond  it,  these  laws  will  cease  to  ope- 

rate on  sinners  ?—  ED, 


THE    PUNISHMENTS  IN   HELL.  317 

en  all  mankind,  is  a  very  small  portion  of  God's  immense 
dominions ;  and  when  the  transactions  of  our  earth,  and 
God's  present  government  of  it,  shall  be  finished,  he  has 
a  thousand  other  dominions  among  the  planets  and  stars, 
which  has  been  proved  by  the  reason  of  men  to  a  great  de- 
gree of  probability ;  and  these  he  governs  by  righteous 
laws,  and  though  he  has  not  revealed  much  of  them  to  us 
in  this  life,  yet  he  has  discovered  something  of  this  kind 
in  his  own  word.  He  has  acquainted  us  with  his  wise  and 
righteous  government  over  'fallen  angels,'  and  what  was 
their  sin,  vix.  their  pride  and  ambition,  and  what  was  their 
punishment  for  their  last  rebellion,  Jude  vi.  and  this  is 
done  by  the  wisdom  and  mercy  of  God  to  affright  men 
from  sinning,  while  we  behold  how  those  fallen  spirits  are 
exposed  and  set  forth  as  terrible  examples  for  our  warning. 
And  why  may  not  the  everlasting  punishment  of  sinners 
among  the  children  of  men  be  made  a  standing  monument 
of  God's  justice,  to  deter  many  other  worlds  from  offen- 
ding him?  Other  worlds,  I  say,  of  unknown  creatures, 
vvhich  perhaps  may  inhabit  the  planetary  globes  rolling 
round  the  same  sun  as  our  earth  does ;  and  their  state  of 
trial  perhaps  is  not  yet  begun,  or  it  may  be  half  run  out,  and 
yet  shall  not  be  finished  for  some  thousands  of  years  ? 

Orperhaps  there  are  other  worlds  of  spirits,and  invisible, 
incorporeal,  intelligent  creatures  in  a  state  of  trial,  who 
may  persevere  in  glorious  innocence  and  complete  happi- 
ness, to  the  eternal  praise  of- their  Maker's  goodness,  and 
may  yet  be  kept  in  their  constant  duty  and  obedience,  by 
having  always  in  their  view  the  eternal  punishments  of 
wicked  men.  See  this  subject  treated  of  more  at  large  in 
a  book  called  '  The  strength  and  weakness  of  human  rea- 
son,' 2d  edition,  p.  288. 

The  counsels  of  God  are  far  above  our  reach,  and  his 
dominions  and  governments  are  unknown  to  us.  What  if 
the  great  God  will  have  creatures  in  some  of  his  territo- 
ries, who  in  themselves  are  weak  and  ready  to  fall,  and 
may  be  deterred  from  sin  and  apostacy  by  such  standing 
manifestations  of  his  hatred  of  it,  and  his  righteous  ven- 
geance against  it?  And  since  others  have  been  monu- 
ments of  warning  to  us,  what  if  he  please  to  make  this 
wicked  world  of  ours,  when  he  has  taken  the  few  right- 
eous out  of  it  to  heaven;  I  say,  what  if  he  please  to  make 
the  rest  an  everlasting  spectacle  of  his  justice  and  holiness 
2  B2 


318  THE   ETERNAL   DURATION  OF 

to  a  hundred  or  a  thousand  other  worlds,  which  may  be  ut- 
terly unknown  to  us?  And  he  may,  for  this  end,  reveal 
his  transactions  with  mankind  to  those  worlds,  though  he 
has  not  revealed  much  of  their  affairs  to  us. 

If  I  were  to  mention  any  other  objection  worthy  of  no- 
tice, I  know  of  none  but  this,  viz.  'some  learned  men  sup- 
pose it  to  have  been  the  opinion  of  the  primitive  fathers,' 
that  souls  departing  from  this  world  were  sent  into  hades, 
or  the  state  of  the  dead,  where  the  righteous  rest  in  a  state 
of  peace  and  hope:  till  the  resurrection  should  bring  them 
to  heaven  :  and  the  most  wicked  among  mankind  went  al- 
so to  hades,  or  this  state  of  the  dead,  under  a  long  and 
fearful  expectation  of  the  final  punishments  of  hell.  But 
that  great  multitudes  who  were  of  an  indifferent  character, 
and  who  were  not  so  bad  but  they  might  be  reclaimed, 
had  another  state  of  trial  in  hades,  whither,  they  say,  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  at  his  death  descended  and  preached  the 
gospel  to  them,  and  many  of  them  were  recovered,  and 
shall  be  hereafter  raised  to  eternal  life.  The  chief  Scrip- 
ture whence  they  borrow  this  is  1  Pet.  iii.  19,  :20,  of 
which  we  have  spoken  before  ;  and  that  at  the  great  day 
of  judgment  incorrigible  sinners  should  be  sent  with  the 
devils  into  the  punishment  of  fire,  which,  though  it  may 
last  for  a  shorter  or  longer  time,  yet  should  destroy  both 
their  bodies  and  their  souls  forever. 

To  this  I  answer,  first,  If  this  had  been  the  doctrine  of 
many  ancient  Christians,  yet  unless  they  could  bri'ng  plain- 
er proofs  of  it  from  the  word  of  God  than  one  difficult 
and  obscure  text  of  St.  Peter,  there  is  no  great  reason  for 
us  to  receive  from  them  such  traditions.  The  xvord  of 
God  is  our  only  test  of  truth,  and  our  instructor  in  mat- 
ters of  the  invisible  world. 

jlnsw.  2d,  Though  there  might  be  a  few  of  the  early 
writers  who  seemed  to  incline  to  some  of  these  opinions; 
yet  this  sense  is  drawn-out  from  most  of  them  by  learned 
men  with  much  difficulty,  uncertainty  and  conjecture  : 
and  there  are  many  others  of  them  who  make  the  punish- 
ments of  hell  as  durable  as  the  writers  of  later  ages  :  nor 
do  they  mention  or  allow  of  any  such  sort  of  purgatory 
for  souls  of  an  indifferent  character  as  this  objection  pre- 
tends. Those  who  look  into  their  writings  will  find 
abundant  evidence,  that  most  of  them  talk  of  'eternal  pun- 
ishment by  fire'  in  the  very  words  and  language  of  the 


THE  PUNISHMENTS  IN  HELL.  319 

New  Testament,  and  in  direst  opposition  to  this  doctrine 
of  temporal  punishments  in  hell.  I  shall  cite  but  two  writ- 
ers, one  of  which  is  the  .very  earliest  of  the  fathers,  an 
acquaintance  of  St.  Paul,  and  that  is  Clemens  the  Roman, 
who  in  the  eighth  section  of  his  second  epistle  says  thus  : 

'  Let  us  therefore  repent  whilst  we  are  yet  upon  the 
earth :  for  we  are  as  clay  in  the  hand  of  the  artificer. 
For  as  the  potter,  if  he  makes  a  vessel,  and  it  be  distorted 
in  his  hands,  or  broken,  again  forms  it  anew  ;  but  if  he 
hath  gone  so  Yar  as  to  throw  it  into  the  furnace  of  firfe,  he 
can  no  more  bring  any  remedy  to  it :  so  we,  whilst  we 
are  in  this  world,  should  repent  with  our  whole  h^art  for 
whatsoever  evil  we  have  done  in  the  flesh,  while  we  have 
yet  the  time  of  repentance,  that  we  may  be  saved  by  the 
Lord.  For  after  we  shall  have  departed  out  of  this  world, 
we  shall  no  longer  be  able,"  cither  to  confess  our  sins,  or 
repent,  in  the  other.'  The  English  reader  may  find  this 
in  Archbishop  Wake's  translation  of  the  most  primitive 
fathers. 

Justin  Martyr,  wlto  is  also  one  of  the  most  early  wri- 
ters, in  the  eighth  section  of  his  <  first  apology,  tells  us,  that 
Plato  '  teaches  that  Rhadamanthus  and  Minos  punished 
the  unrighteous  who  came  before  them  :  and  that  we 
Christians  say  the  same  thing  will  be  done,'  but  it  is  by 
Christ  :  '  when  their  bodies  are  joined  with  their  souls, 
and  they  shall  be  punished  with  eternal  punishment,  and 
not  £gr  the  period  of  a  thousand  years  only,  as  Plato  said.' 
This  same  writer  also,  in  very  many  places  of  his  works, 
talks  of  'eternal  punishment,'  and  of  'pfinishment  for  an 
endless  age,'  and  '  eternal  fire,  with  eternal  sensation'  or 
pain. 

Irenaeus  also  after  him,  as  well  as  Ignatius  and  Poly- 
carp  before  him,  speak  of  this  '  fire  which  is  not  to  be 
quenched,'  and  of  death  and  punishment,  not  temporal,  but 
eternal.  So  that  it  is  really  an  imposition  upon  unlearn- 
ed readers  to  pretend,  that  the  doctrine  which  denies 
the  eternity  of  the  punishments  of  hell,  was  the  common 
sense  of  the  primitive  fathers,  though  it  is  granted  that 
Origen  and  some  others  might  be  of  this  opinion. 

To  conclude  ;  since  the  word  of  God  has  expressly  as- 
sured us,  that  these  punishments  of  sinful  men  shall  be 
eternal,  it  is  not  for  us  to  hearken  to  any  other  doctrines, 
and  neglect  vvha^  God  has  said,  nor  is  it  fit  for  us  to  dis- 


320  THE   ETERNAL  DURATION  OF 

pute  the  wisdom  and  justice  of  divine  conduct,  nor  to 
impeach  his  goodness.  '  Let  God  he  true,  though  every 
man  be  a  liar  ;'  let  God  be  wise,  though  every  man  he  a 
fool  ;  let  God  be  just  and  righteous  in  all  his  ways, 
though  man  vainly  murmur  against  him,  and  raise  these 
noisy  and  feeble  remonstrances  against  his  judgments 
'  The  counsel  of  the  Lord  shall  stand,  and  he  will  do  all 
his  pleasure,'  in  the  eternal  manifestations  of  his  justice 
as  well  as  his  grace.  If  there  be  any  supposed  inconsis- 
tencfy  or  cloud  of  difficulty  remaining  on  his  conduct,  ha 
will  clear  it  up  to  the  satisfaction  of  every  rational  mind 
one  day,  and  will  bring  the  conscience  of  every  condemn- 
ed sinner  to  acknowledge  the  equity  of  his  proceedings. 
The  whole  creation  shall  then  justify  the  final  sentence 
of  judgment  on  all  the  sons  of  men.' 

I  cannot  finish  this  awful,  argument  better  than  the 
Apostle  finishes  the  same  sort  of  subject  in  the  ninth  and 
eleventh  chapters  to  the  Romans.  '  0  man,  who  art  thou 
that  repliest  against  God  ?  What  if  God,  willing  to  shew 
his  wrath,  and  to  make  his  power  known,  hath  eftdured, 
with  much  long-suffering,  the  vessels  of  wrath,  who  have 
fitted  themselves  for  destruction  ?  And  that  he  might 
make  known  the  riches  of  his  glory  on  the  vessels  cf 
mercy,  which  he  hath  afore  prepared  unto  glory  ?  0  the 
depths  of  the  riches,  both  of  the  wisdom  and  knowledge, 
the  justice  and  the  goodness  of  God,  how  unsearchable 
are  his  judgments,  and  his  ways  past  finding  out!  For  of 
him,  and  through  him,  and  to  him,  are  all  things,  to  whom 
be  glory  forever  and  ever.'  Amen. 

§  III.  Reflections  on  the  Eternity  of  Punishment  in 
Hell. 

As  we  have  before  drawn  various  inferences  from  the 
nature  of  those  punishments  that  are  prepared  from  sinners 
in  the  world  to  come,  so  there  are  other  inferences  and 
terrible  reflections  which  may  be  derived  from  the  duration 
or  perpetuity  of  the  torments  of  hell. 

Reflect.  I.  'What  unspeakable  anguish  and  torture  doth 
this  one  circumstance  add  to  every  pain  and  sorrow  of 
damned  creatures,  that  it  is  everlasting  and  has  no  end  ?' 
What  unknown  twinges  in  the  conscience  doth  this  thought 
give  to  the  gnawing  of  the  cruel  worm,  viz.  that  it  is  a 
'  worm  that  never  dies  ?'  What  unconceivable  force  and 
sting  of  torment  does  this  add  to  the  fire  of  God's  indigna- 


THE  PUNISHMENTS  IN  HELL.  321 

tion  in  hell,  that  it  is  a  'fire  which  shall  never  be  quenched?' 
When  one  year  of  torment  and  sorrow  is  ended,  or  one 
thousand  years  are  come  to  their  period,  the  case  of  sin- 
ners is  still  much  the  same,  the  vengeance  remains  still  as 
heavy  as  ever,  and  seems  as  far  off  from  its  end.  This 
dreadful  price,  which  the  justice  of  God  demands  for  the 
reparation  of  our  offences  against  his  law  and  his  authority, 
is  a  price  which  creatures  can  never  pay,  for  ii  is  inlinite  ; 
and  therefore,  when  a  finite  creature  begins  to  make  pay- 
ment thereof  with  his  own  sufferings,  these  sufferings 
must  he  everlasting. 

It  is  evident,  that  one  wilful  sin  is  sufficient  to  sink 
creatures  under  the  indignation  of  God  for  six  thousand 
years  :  I  call  the  angels  who  sinned  for  witnesses  to  this 
truth.  They  were  formed  in  holiness  and  in  glory  before 
the  creation  of  this  lower  world,  and  probably  they  sinned 
and  fell  before  this  creation  too  ;  and  they  are  yet  impris- 
oned and  confined  '  under  perpetual  chains  of  darkness,' 
as  the  word  of  God  tells  us,  and  '  reserved  to'  everlasting 
punishment  'at  the  judgment  of  the  great  day.'  And  if 
thou,  0  sinner,  among  the  sons  of  men,  if  thou  diest  in 
an  unregenerate,  unholy,  and  un pardoned  state,  the  sins 
of  thy  whole  life  are  charged  upon  thee,  and  thou  art 
'  daily  treasuring  up  wrath  against  the  day  of  wrath,  and 
thou  shalt  not  escape  from  this  prison  till  thou  hast  paid 
the  utmost  farthing,'  Rom.  ii.  5.  Matt.  v.  26. 

If  one  sin  deserves  all  this  misery  which  has  been  de- 
scribed, what  a  dreadful  reckoning  will  the  sins  of  thy 
whole  life  ccme  to,  when  every  command  of  God  which 
thou  hast  broken  shall  appear  and  demand  reparation  for 
its  injured  honour  ?  Remember,  0  sinner,  obstinate  and 
rebellious,  remember  thou  hast  to  do  with  a  great  and 
dreadful  God,  who  has  all  thine  '  iniquities  ever  before  his 
eyes  ;'  Isa.  Ivi.  5,  >  Behold  they  are  written  before  me, 
and  I  will  recompence,  saith  the  Lord,  their  iniquity  into 
their  bosom.'  He  is  a  God  that  will  never  forget  any  one 
of  thy  crimes.  Amos  viii.  7.  <  The  Lord  hath  sworn  by 
the  excellency  of  Jacob,  surely  I  will  never  forget  any  of 
their  works.'  Though  thou  hast  lost  and  forgot  them, 
he  will  bring  them  again  into  thy  conscience  with  a  terri- 
ble remembrance  ;  and  when  this  God  comes  forth  in  a 
way  of  vengeance,  '  every  transgression  and  disobedience 
shall  receive  a  just  recompence  of  reward.  Vengeance 
41 


322  THE  ETERNAL  DURATION  Oi' 

belongeth  unto  me,  saith  the  Lord,'  Heb.  ii.  2.  and  x.  30. 
'  He  that  spared  not  his  own  Son,  when  he  laid  on  him  the 
iniquity  of  us  all,'  will  never  spare  thee  who  art  the  personal 
and  criminal  transgressor.  Eternal,  recompences  are  due  to 
the  demands  of  justice,  and  he  will  punish  till  full  payment 
is  made  equal  to  the  evil  of  sin,  i.  e.  to  all  everlasting. 
Reflect.  II.  '  What  Infinite  and  eternal  concerns  of  men 
upon  the  short  and  slender  thread  of  human  life  ?' 


An  eternal  heaven  or  an  eternal  hell  depend  on  our  good 
or  ill  behaviour  in  this  short  and  mortal  state.  While  life 
remains  the  sinner's  hope  remains  ;  he  abides  on  the  stage 
of  action,  and  this  is  the  state  of  trial  for  eternity  :  but  as 
soon  as  the  thread  of  life  is  broken,  immediately  ensues 
endless  joy  or  endless  sorrow. 

,  What  a  poor  fleeting  vapour,  what  a  thin  and  frail  bub- 
ble is  this  feeble  and  uncertain  thing  which  we  call  'life  ?' 
And  yet  what  matters  of  immense  importance  depend  up- 
on it  ?  This  present  life  is  a  prize  put  intd  our  hands,  for 
it  is  the  only  time  given  us  to  obtain  deliverance  and  es- 
cape from  eternal  death.  Life  in  this  view,  as  mere  a  bub- 
ble and  vapour  as  it  is,  carries  in  it  something  of  infinite 
and  everlasting  moment  :  but  alas,  how  wretchedly  does 
foolish  and  sinful  mankind  trifle  and  squander  it  away 
amidst  a  thousand  vanities  and  impertinences,  or  saunter 
it  out  in  sloth  and  laziness,  with  an  utter  disregard  of  the 
important  eternity  that  depends  upon  it  ?  What  multi- 
tudes are  there  that  waste  the  golden  hours  of  grace  and 
the  seasons  of  hope,  in  procuring  to  themselves,  by  their 
own  wilful  iniquities,  a  length  of  damnation  and  ever- 
lasting despair  ? 

Whilst  we  dwell  here  in  the  midst  of  the  means  of  mer- 
cy and  salvation,  there  is  hope  that  our  sinful  souls  may 
be  healed  of  that  disease  which  is  breeding  the  cvergnaw- 
ing  worm  within  us.  We  may  prevent  the  fuel  of  divine 
wrath  from  kindling  into  a  flame  which  cannot  be  quench- 
ed :  but  when  once  the  clock  of  life  has  gone  through  its 
appointed  spaces,  and  the  last  hour  strikes,  whether  it  be 
three  or  five,  whether  at  twelve  at  noon  or  at  midnight, 
all  hope  is  forever  gone  ;  we  are  plunged  into  the  re- 
gions of  death,  despondency  and  darkness,  and  nothing 
remains  but  the  actual  torture  of  the  'worm'  of  cons- 
cience to  seize  on  us,  and  the  '  fire'  of  divine  anger  actual- 
ly breaks  out,  which  shall  burn  to  the  lowest  hell. 


THE  PUNISHMENTS  IN  HELL.  323 

0  could  we  but  behold  ourselves  in  the  glass  of  wisdom, 
while  we  are  yet  standing  upon  the  slippery  edge  of  this 
burning  precipice,  and  playing  with  painted  bubbles  there, 
cv  in  warm  pursuit  of  a  flying  shining  feather  along  the 
brink  of  this  burning  torrent,  what  fools  and  madmen 
should  we  appear  to  be  even  in  our  own  eyes  !  And  yet 
we  go  on  to  practise  this  folly,  this  madness,  day  after 
day,  in  spite  of  all  the  warnings  of  Gocl  and  man,  till 
at  last  our  foot  slips  in  some  dreadful  moment,  and  we  van- 
ish out  of  the  sight  of  our  companions,  and  are  lost  forever. 

Reflect.  III.  If  the  miseries  of  hell  are  eternal,  '  how 
unreasonable  a  thing  is  it  ever  to  suffer  the  loss  of  any  pos- 
sessions or  joys  which  are  temporal  and  perishing,  to  come 
into  competition  witn  them  ?'  Surely  there  is  nothing 
that  belongs  to  time  that  should  tempt  us  to  run  the  risk 
of  the  sorrows  of  eternity,  nor  allure  us  to  colhmit  one 
sin  against  Gocl,  which  is  the  fatal  spring  of  such  sorrows  ! 
Stand  still,  0  sinner,  and  hearken  to  the  voice  of  wisdom. 
Do  the  pleasures  of  sense,  ov  the  gaieties  of  sight,  or  the 
wealth  or  grandeurs  of  this  life  allure  thee  to  make  thy 
way  boldly  through  any  ' means'  toward  the  possession  of 
them,  think  with  thyself,  is  it  by  offending  this  great  and 
dreadful  God  ?  And  wilt  thou  dare  to  take  one  step  to- 
wards these  dangerous  and  deceitful  vanities,  and  risk 
thine  immortal  welfare  in  the  pursuit?  What  a  foolish 
bargain  wilt  thou  make  '  to  gain  the  whole  world'  of  short- 
lived perishing  trifles,  and  '  to  lose  thy  soul'  ir>  endless  per- 
dition ?  Mark  viii.  36.  Dare  any  of  us  venture  an  eter- 
nal state  of  torment  to  gain  the  flattering  and  delusive  joy 
)f  a  short  hour,  or  a  winter's  day  ? 

What  are  all  the0gratificafions  of  flesh  a"nd  sense  ! — 
What  are  all  the  swelling  titles  of  honour  amongst  men  ! 
What  are  all  the  treasures  of  this  perishing  world  !  How 
short  is  their  duration,  and  how  short  is  the  possession  of 
them  !  All  earthly  felicities 'perish  in  the  using,'  and  are 
no  sooner  enjoyed  but  are  quickly  lost  again,  or  expire  in 
the  enjoyment :  but  if  the  ruin  of  a  soul,  and  a  lost  heaven, 
be  the  price  of  them,  how  mad  is  the  purchase,  and  how 
wretched  is  the  purchaser  ? 

Reflect.  IV.  '  How  patiently  should  we  bear  all  the  la- 
bours, and  fatigues,  the  pains  and  miseries  of  this  mortal 
life,  when  we  have  any  hope  of  our  deliverance  from  the 
pains  and  sorrows  of  immortality  ?'  As  for  our  maladies 


324  THE   ETERNAL   DURATION  OF 

and  sorrows  here  on  earth,  blessed  be  God  they  are  not 
eternal  ;  there  are  some  intervals  to  relieve,  and  there  is 
some  period  to  finish  them.  When  we  ask  a  friend  who 
is  sick  and  in  pain,  "  how  fare  you  ?  I  am  in  pain  now, 
says  he,  but  1  hope  I  shall  be  easy  anon  :  I  am  sick  to- 
day, but  I  trust  I  shall  be  in  health  to-morrow."  This  is 
a  sweet  mitigation  of  the  present  uneasiness,  and  gives  re- 
lief to  the  patient.  But  how  dreadful  and  piercing  would 
these'accents  be,  if  we  should  hear  our  friend  make  this 
answer  to  us,  "I  am  all  over  in  extreme  pain  and  an- 
guish, and  I  shall  never,  never  be  eased  of  it :  I  lio 
under  exquisite  torment  of  the  flesh,  and  horror  in  my 
soul,  and  1  shall  forever  feel  this  horror  and  this  torment." 
Such  ie  the  case  of  the  damned  sinners  in  hell,  and  there- 
fore their  agonies  are  intolerable. 

But  if  you  have  any  comfortaWe  prospect  of  the  par- 
don of  sin,  and  a  well-grounded  hope  of  eternal  salvation 
through  the  blood  of  '  Christ,'  and  by  the  rules  and  pro- 
mises of  the  gospel,  all  the  temporal  toils  and  plagues  that 
can  possibly  stand  between  us  and  heaven  should  be  des- 
pised and  disregarded  by  us,  and  we  should  learn  to  tri- 
umph over  them  with  the  victorious  songs  of  thankful- 
ness and  praise.  Ble^ed  be  the  name  of  our  God,  'though 
he  has  smitten  us'  sorely, '  yet  he  has  not  given  us  over 
to'  everlasting  'death.' 

Let  our  thoughts  ascend  to  the  heavenly  regions,  and 
let  us  ask  those  who  are  arrived  thii-her  out  of  the  land  of 
temptation  and  conflict,  out  of  these  tabernacles  of  sin  and 
sorrow  ;  let  us  ask  them  what  gave  them  so  divine  a  cour- 
age, and  so  firm  a  patience,  in  the  midst  of  all  their  trials  ? 
With  one  voice  they  will  all  make  answer,  it  was  the  view 
of  our  tJeliveranc3  from  an  eternal  hell,  and  the  hopes  of 
obtaining  salvation  by  ' Christ  Jesus'  with  eternal  glory  ; 
iris  this  that  sppported  us  under  every  burden,  and  bore 
us  on  with  a  spirit  of  faith  and  victory  through  every  hard- 
ship on  earth.  It  was  for  this  we  laboured,  and  suffered, 
and  '  counted  not  life,'  nor  any  of  the  blessings  of  it,  <  dear 
to  us,'  nor  any  of  the  sorrows  of  it  intolerable,  that  we 
might  escape  the  everlasting  sorrows  of  a  future  state,  and 
enjoy  the  blessings  of  life  eternal.  And,  0  may  every  one 
of  us  'be  the  followers  of  those  who  through'  this  'faith 
and  patience  have  obtained  the  promised'  felicity  !  May 
we  also  make  our  way  by  the  same  motives,  through  the 


THE  PUNISHMENTS   IN   HELL.  325 

floods  and  the  fires  of  affliction  and  distress,  to  reach  this 
everlasting  heaven,  and  to  escape  everlasting  burnings  ! 

In  order  to  confirm  our  patience,  and  to  animate  our 
zeal,  let  us  survey  the  blessed  example  of  St.  '  Paul,  who 
was  reproached,  who  was  buffeted,  who  was  persecuted  with 
stones,  and  whips,  and  scourges,  and  bore  a  thousand  indig- 
nities, who  was  assaulted  with  endless  strokes  of  injury  and 
violence,  and  yet  rejoiced  in  the  midst  of  all  his  sufferings 
in  the  view  of  his  eternal  hope.  The  spirit  of  faith  in  the 
midst  of  all  his  sufferings  taught  him  to  singthis  divine  song, 
'our  light  afflictions  which  are  but  for  a  moment,  are  working 
for  us  a  far  more  exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of  glory.  The 
sufferings  of  this  present  time  are  not  worthy  to  be  com- 
pared with  the  glory  that  shall  be  revealed,'  2  Cor.  iv.  17. 
Rom.  viii.  18.  Nor  are  they  worthy  to  be  compared  with 
that  exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of  vengcance,from  which 
we  are  delivered  by  faith  and  patient  obedience  to  the  gos- 
pel of  our  Lord  'Jesus  Christ.' 

Reflect.  V.  If '  the  miseries  of  hell  are  eternal,  we  can 
never  have  our  deliverance  from  them  made  too  secure.' 
If  the  danger  of  any  mischief  to  which  we  might  be  ex- 
posed, were  but  slight,  and  the  duration  of  it  short, 
there  might  be  possibly  some  excuse  for  our  delay  toes- 
capje  it.  But  when  it  is  total  and  irrevocable  ruin  to  which 
we  are  liable  every  moment,  while  we  continue  in  a  state 
of  sin,  we  should  fly  with  all  the  wings  of  our  souls,  and 
never  be  at  ease  or  quiet  till  we  are  got  without  the  reach  of 
danger,  and  settled  in  a  place  of  safety,  or  on  the  rock 
of  our  salvation. 

0  could  we  but  perceive  a  thousandth  part  of  the  hor- 
ror that  is  contained  in  an  eternal  hell,  an  eternal  banish- 
ment from  the  face  and  favour  of  God,  and  the  eternal  im- 
pressions of  his  anger,  we  should  never  give  ourselves 
rest  one  moment,  till  we  had  returned  to  God  by  a  sincere 
repentance,  and  were  reconciled  to  him  that  made  us :  till 
we  fled  for  refuge  to  the  blood  of  Jesus,  and  to  his  sanc- 
tifying grace,  which  is  the  jpnly  hope  that  is  set  before  us. 
We  should  never  give  ourselves  leave  to  lie  down,  or 
awake. in  quiet,  while  we  were  destitute  of  a  saving  inte- 
rest in  the  salvation  of  Christ,  and  had  attained  to  some 
clear  evidence  of  it,  and  a  well-grounded  hope. 

Have  we  not  sometimes  felt  the  'worm  of  conscience'  be- 
gin to  gnaw  within  us,  and  to  prey  upon  our  spirits  after 

2C 


326  THE  ETEKNAL  DURATION  OF 

the  commission  of  some  sin?  And  shall  we  not  apply 
ourselves  with  all  holy  speed  to  the  divine  Physician,  who 
can  kill  this  gnawing  worm  within  us,  and  can  heal  thost 
sinful  maladies  that  are  breeding  it  ?  Have  we  not  some- 
times felt  the  threatenings  of  the  wrath  of  God  in  his  law, 
Jike  a  fire  in  our  bones?  With  what  infinite  desire  then, 
and  what  restless  vehemence  should  we  fly  .to  tne  blood  of 
Jesus  our  great  sacrifice,  which  alone  can  quench  the  fiery 
indignation  of  God,  and  prevent  it  from  growing  up  to  an 
everlasting  flame. 

Had  we  upon  our  spirits  such  a  sense  of  the  terrors  of 
the  Lord  in  hell,  as  his  threatenings  represent,  we  should 
never  be  satisfied  with  such  cold  doubtful  hopes  of  our  de- 
liverance from  them,  as  thousands  of  nominal  Christians 
are  contented  with  ;  but  we  should  make  every  needful 
and  critical  enquiry,  whether  our  repentance  were  sincere, 
whether  our  faith  in  Christ  were  unfeigned,  whether  oui 
hopes  had  a  solid  foundation  in  the  divine  promise.  We 
should  search  every  power  of  our  souls,  and  examine  our 
hearts  through  every  corner,  whether  sin  be  mortified  there, 
whether  the  Christian  virtues  are  formed  within  us,  and  the 
divine  image  is  begun  to  be  stamped  upon  our  minds.  We 
should  be  restless  and  impatient  in  our  inward  searches, 
whether  we  are  made  new  creatures,  whether  we  are  born 
of  God  and  become  his  children,  and  are  secured  by  his 
gospel  from  this  everlasting  vengeance.  The  degree  and 
the  infinite  duration  of  this  misery  should  appoint  the  pro- 
portion of  our  Zeal  and  solicitude  to  escape  it. 

A  man  who  sees  or  feels  his  own  house  on  fire  under 
him,  does  not  continue  upon  his  bed  of  sloth,  or  sit  amusing 
himself  among  the  ornaments  of  his  chamber,  till  the  flames 
have  broke  through  and  seized  him  :  but  with  huge  out-, 
cries  he  seeks  for  help,  and  flees  in  haste  for  his  life,  where- 
soever he  finds  a  way.  Such  should  be  the  language,  and 
such  the  activity  of  sinful  creatures,  to  escape  the  wrath 
to  come;  and  such  will  be  the  outcries  of  sinners  when 
they  are  thoroughly  awakened ;  this  language  of  every 
place,  and  of  every  hour  will  then  be  awakened,  '  what 
shall  I  do  to  be  saved  ?  Whither  shall  I  flee  for  refuge  ?' 
0  blessed  Jesus,  receive  me  into  thy  protection,  and  be 
thou  my  deliverer. 

Give  me  leave  to  repeat  this  sort  of  expostulation  with 
lingering  and  delaying  sinners,  or  with  drowsy  and  for- 


THE  PUNISHMENTS   IN   HELL.  327 

mal  Christians.  If  you  would  set  yourselves  often  in  the 
blaze  of  these  everlasting  burnings,  you  would  never  sat- 
isfy yourselves  with  such  cold  faint  wishes,  such  lazy  en- 
deavours, such  languid  efforts  of  faith  and  repentance,  to 
escape  this  fiery  indignation  that  shall  never  be  quenched: 
nor  would  you  content  yourselves  with  dark  and  doubtful 
evidences  of  your  interest  in  the  love  of  God,  and  the 
grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  ;  but  you  would  be  day  and  night 
busy  with  your  own  hearts  in  the  most  intimate  and  care- 
ful search  after  oonverting  grace  and  living  Christianity : 
you  would  never  be  at  rest  till  you  felt  the  new  nature 
working  with  power  and  bright  evidence  within  you,  that 
you  might  be  able  to  say,  "we  know  there  is  no  condemna- 
tion belongs  to  us,  butthat  we  are  passed  from  death  unto  life." 

Let  us  proceed  upon  this  subject,  turning  the  discourse 
from  ourselves  to  our  friends,  and  say  with  what  fervour 
of  love,  with  what  holy  zeal  and  compassion  should  we 
labour  to  save  our  friends  and  all  that  are  dear  to  us,  from 
this  eternal  destruction  ?  What  words  of  fiery  terror  shall 
we  choose  to  awaken  those  who  slumber  on  the  edge  of 
endless  burnings?  What  language  of  kind  and  tender 
passion  shall  we  chuse  to  reach  their  hearts?  What  phra- 
sesof  melting  pity  to  hasten  their  escape  from  this  precipice 
of  burning  ruin,  or  to  pluck  them  as  brands  out  of  the  fire 
before  it  becomes  unquenchable?  'Knowing  these  ter- 
rors of  the  Lord,'  with  what  vehemence  of  zeal  should 
we  try  to  persuade  men,  our  fellow  mortals,  that  they 
would  not  venture  into  the  midst  of  these  miseries,  and 
beseech  them  in  the  name  of  Christ  to  be  reconciled  to 
God  ?  This  was  the  practice,  and  these  the  motives  of  the 
great  Apostle,  as  he  describes  them  at  the  latter  end  of  the 
fifth  chapter  in  his  second  epistle  to  the  Corinthians. 

0  with  what  force  of  ardent  and  active  compassion  should 
ministers  preach  both  the  curses  of  the  law,  and  the  grace 
of  the  blessed  gospel,  to  perishing  sinners,  and  make  haste 
to  rescue  their  souls  from  this  everlasting  vengeance? 
With  what  warm  and  solicitous  zeal  should  they  lay  hold 
of  those  poor  thoughtless  wretches-  who  are  madly  indul- 
ging their  lusts  a"nd  follies,  and  thereby  preparing  them- 
selves to  become  fit  fuel  for  this  eternal  fire?  They  are 
forming  themselves  by  their  iniquities  to  become  vessels 
of  this  everlasting  indignation.  Let  us  seize  them  by 
some  kind  and  constraining  words  of  love,  some  outcries 


32S  THE  ETERNAL  DURATION  OF 

of  compassion  and  fear,  lest  they  rush  into  those  flames 
which  will  never  he  quenched.  Perhaps  when  they 
arc  summoned  away  from  us  hy  the  stroke  of  death,  they 
may  leave  us  in  the  most  uncomfortable  sorrows  for  our 
neglect,  while  they  are  suffering  the  long  endless  punish- 
ment due  to  their  own  iniquities. 

Reflect.  VI. '  How  unreasonable  a  thing  is  it  for  us  min- 
isters, who  are  charged  and  entrusted  with'  the  whole 
counsel  of  God  for  the  salvation  of  men,  to  avoid  the  men- 
tion of  these  his  eternal  terrors  in  our  sermons,  and  in  our 
addresses  to  mortal  creatures ;  creatures'  who  are  daily 
preparing  themselves  for  them  by  their  sins,  and  are  ready 
to  plunge  into  the  midst  of  them  !  Has  not  our  blessed 
Saviour  made  frequent  mention  of  them  in  his  gospel,  and 
set  them  in  their  dreadful  array  before  his  hearers?  Has 
he  not  expressed  them  in  their  strongest  terms,  and  spread 
them  in  their  most  frightful  colours,  and  set  them  in  their 
full  and  everlasting  extent,  before  the  sinners  which  atten- 
ded his  ministry?  And  did  he  ever  give  any  hint  that 
they  should  be  understood  in  a  milder  sense?  Have  rfot 
the  Apostles  followed  their  Lord  in  the  same  dreadful  dis- 
play of  the  sharp  and  ever-during  punishments  of  hell  ? 
And  have  they  taught  us  to  qualify  these  terrors  by  gen 
tier  interpretations  of  them  ?  And  have  not  such  kind  of 
discourses  been  abundantly  blessed  in  the  providence  of 
God,  both  in  ancient  and  later  ages,  to  awaken  and  save 
multitudes  of  the  souls  of  men  ? 

How  many  holy  and  happy  spirits  are  now  rejoicing 
before  God,  and  before  the  throne  of  his  love,  and  encom- 
passed with  all  the  joys  of  immortality,  who  owe  the  be- 
ginnings of  their  repentance,  and  the  first  turn  of  then 
souls  towards  faith  and  salvation  to  such  words  of  terror 
as  these?  Hpw  many  of  the' saints  on  high  have  been 
first  awakened  from  their  deadly  sleep  in  sin,  by  the  min- 
istrations of  this  eternal  vengeance  of  God  ?  How  many 
have  been  affrighted  out  of  their  indolence  at  first  by  the 
discovery  of  these  everlasting  horrors  of  conscience  and 
agonies  of  soul  ?  The  dread  of  the  worm  that  never  dies 
has  affrighted  their  consciences  from  a  course  of  sin  :  the 
fiery  indignation  which  shall  never  be  quenched  has  flash- 
ed in  their  bosoms  from  the  lips  of  the  preacher,  and  has 
set  them  all  over  trembling,  and  filled  all  their  inward 
powers  with  dismay  and  anguish.  Their  tongue  has  broke 

I* 


THE  PUNISHMENTS  IN  HELL.  329 

into  loud  and  earnest  enquiries,  'Who  shall  deliver  me  from 
this  eternal  death  ?  How  shall  I  escape  this  everlasting  wrath 
to  come  ?'  And  the  spirit  of  God  by  degrees  has  led 
them  to  Jesus,  and  his  atoning  blood,  his  gospel,  his  right- 
eousness, and  his  converting  grace,  as  the  only  way  of  de- 
liverance and  salvation. 

How  unreasonable  a  thing  is  it  for  ministers  in  their 
preaching  to  soften  these  terrors  of  the  Lord,  to  cut  short 
these  endless  horrors  and  anguish,  and  to  mitigate  the 
miseries  of  hell  and  damnation,  since  even  all  that  length 
and  eternity  in  which  Christ  and  his  Apostles  preached 
these  terrors,  have  not  been  sufficient  to  reclaim  mankind 
from  their  iniquities  ;  but  multitudes  of  them,  in  the  face 
of  all  these  threatening.?,  still  persist  in  the  broad  way  to 
destruction  and  death? 

Can  we  possibly  do  any  honour  to  the  ministry  of  our 
blessed  Lord,  or  is  there  any  real  service  done  to  the  souls 
of  men  by  our  fond  and  vain  reasonings  to  shorten  these 
sorrows,  and  put  a  period  to  these  threatened  torments? 
Will  the  blessed  Jesus  when  he  sits  on  the  throne  of  judg- 
ment, give  us  thanks  for  running  counter  to  the  language 
of  his  own  ministry,  and  for  daring  to  contradict  his  de- 
nounced vengeance? 

By  the  various  expressions  and  representatives  of  this 
matter  in  scripture,  in  such  solemn  and  dreadful  language, 
must  I  not  suppose  that  the  blessed  God,  and  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  designed  and  intended  that  mankind  should 
believe  the  pains  and  punishments  of  hell  will  be  eternal? 
Can  I  then  be  censured  for  endeavouring  to  establish  and 
promote  the  awful  doctrine  which  both  God  the  Father 
and  his  Son  intended  should  be  believed,  and  by  which 
they  designed  to  guard  both  the  law  and  the  gospel  ?  A 
doctrine  which  was  left  on  record  to  deter  sinners  from 
the  paths  of  sin  and  destruction,  and  to  awaken  the  souls 
and  consciences  of  men  to  repentance  ?  On  the  other  hand, 
can  those  teachers  be  approved  of  God  or  good  men,  whose 
evident  design  is  fo  lead  the  world  to  disbelieve  this  solemn 
and  terrible  warning  of  the  great  God  ? 

Let  us  proceed  in  these  enquiries,  and  address  ourselves 
to  those  wicked  and  miserable  creatures,  who  are  actually 
suffering  this  divine  vengeance.  Let  us  ask  them,  how 
they  approve  of  this  sort  of  preaching  which  withholds 
from  the  eyes,  and  ears,  and  consciences  of  men,  the  most 
42  2c2 


330  THE  ETERNAL  DURATION  OF 

dreadful  circumstance  of  these  horrors  ?  Will  any  of  the 
damned  wretches  of  hell  thank  us  for  hiding  so  dreadful 
a  part  of  these  miseries  from  them  ?  Will  they  bless  us 
for  lessening  the  threatened  curses  and  indignation  of  God  ? 
"No,  says  the  condemned  wretch,  those  preachers  are 
worthy  of  my  curses  and  .not  my  thanks,  who  abated  these 
terrors  of  the  Lord,  and  shortened  his  threatened  punish- 
ment ;  for  they  persuaded  me  to  hope  there  would  be  an 
end  of  my  misery,  and  thereby  tempted  me  to  venture 
upon  those  sins  which  I  should  have  renounced  with 
abomination,  had  I  believed  the  words  of  God,  and  these 
everlasting  torments.  0  cursed  and  cruel  preachers,  who, 
by  softening  and  curtailing  the  sentence  of  eternal  misery, 
gave  a  sort  of  licence  to  my  wickedness,  and  broke  one 
of  the  strongest  bars  that  restrained  me  from  sinning  !  It 
is  by  this  sort  of  flattery  they  paved  my  way  down  to 
hell,  and  have  brought  me  into  this  prison,  this  eternal 
anguish,  whence  there  is  no  release."  * 

Say,  ye  who  preach  that  the  gates  of  hell  shall  one  day 
be  opened  to  let  out  the  prisoners,  ye  who  tell  sinners 
there  is  a  time  of  release  for  them,  say,  do  ye  expect  to 
fright  them  out  of  their  sins  by  lessening  their  fear  of 
God  and  his  wrath  to  come  ?  Do  ye  hope  to  bring  ob- 
stinate and  impenitent  rebels  to  a  more  speedy  remorse  for 
sin,  and  to  begin  a  life  of  holiness,  by  persuading  them 
that  these  terrors  of  God  shall  have  an  end  ?  Can  ye 
imagine  that  such  vain  tidings,  such  soothing  flattery,  will 
ever  melt  them  to  repentance  and  love,  when  all  the  grace 
of  the  gospel,  mingled  with  the  blood  and  tears  of  the 
Son  of  God  will  not  do  it  ?  Would  not  this  manner  of 
preaching  rather  encourage  them  to  run  on  still  in  their 
rebellions,  and  make  them  more  regardless  of  their  highest, 
interest?  Would  it  not  tempt  them  to  give  a  loose  to  their 
vilest  inclinations,  and  all  the  flagrant  and  abominable 
enormities  of  their  own  heart,  when  they  shall  be  told  that 


*  Some  of  the  ancients  have  called  those  preachers  who  shorten  the 
pains  of  hell,  the  merciful  or  compassionate  doctors :  and  Dr.  T.  Burnet 
calls  those  merciless  or  uncompassionate,  who  preach  the  eternity  of  it. 
But.  I  think  it  will  appear  one  day,  that  those  are  truly  the  compassionate 
writers  and  teachers,  who  most  effectually  affright  and  prevent  men  from 
gin  and  damnation  ;  and  those  who  have  given  wicked  men  hope  of  their 
release  from  hell,  will  be  in  danger  of  being  charged  with  smoothing  their 
•way  to  this  misery,  by  softening  the  terrors  of  it — WATTS. 


THE  PUNISHMENTS  IN  HELL.  33 1 

these  punishments,  which  the  Bible  calls  everlasting,  shall 
one  day  come  to  an  end  ? 

Besides,  I  believe  it  has  been  observed  in  every  ager 
that  the  fears  of  this  'worm  which  never  dies,'  and  this 
eternal  'fire  which  shall  never  be  quenched,'  have  been 
made  abundantly  useful  in  the  providence  of  God  to  lay 
a  powerful  restraint  on  the  unruly  vices  of  some  sinners, 
who  have  never  been  awakened  and  drawn  into  saving 
penitence,  or  reclaimed  to  a  life  of  sincere  holiness.  And, 
if  the  restraint  of  this  terror  were  taken  away,  how  much 
more  would  all  iniquity  abound  among  those  who  have  no 
inward  principle  of  goodness  ? 

Let  us  proceed  then  to  preach  the  same  terror  which 
the  blessed  Jesus  thought  not  unworthy  of  his  ministry  ; 
and  may  the  providence  and  the  grace  of  God  give  success 
to  our  labours,  both  for  the  restraining  the  extravagant 
vices  of  the  wicked,  for  the  saving  conversion  of  many 
sinners,  and  for  a  guard  and  restraint  to  the  young  and 
wavering  Christians.* 

Notwithstanding  all  the  express  language  of  scripture 
on  our  side  of  the  question,  and  all  our  arguments  drawn 
from  it ;  yet  there  are  some  of  the  reasoners  and  the  dis- 
puters  of  this  world,  who  will  still  suppose  that  it  is  more 
for  the  honour  of  God,  and  for  the  glory  of  our  blessed 
Saviour,  for  ministers  to  dwell  always  upon  the  promises 

*  The  late  Dr.  Thomas  Burnet,  in  his  Latin  treatise  of  the  'state  of  the 
dead,  and  those  who  rise  again,'  opposes  the  doctrine  of  the  eternity  of 
future  punishments,  and  shews  who  of  the  ancient  fathers  seem  to  be  of 
the  same  opinion  with  him.  But  he  tells  us,  that  these  ancient  fathers, 
when  they  treated  of  this  subject,  often  gave  the  same  advice  to  others, 
which  he  himself  gives  in  these  words  :  "  Whatsoever  you  determine  within 
yourself,  and  in  your  own  breast,  conceming  these  punishments,  whether 
they  are  eternal  or  no,  yet  you  ought  to  use  the  common  doctrine  and  the 
common  language  when  you  preach  or  speak  to  the  people,  especially  those 
of  the  lower  rank,  who  are  ready  to  run  headlong  into  vice,  and  arc  to  be 
restrained  from  evil  only  by  the  fear  of  punishment.  And  even  among 
good  Christians  there  arc  infants  to  be  nourished  with,  milk  ;  nor  is  their  diet 
to  be  rashly  changed,  lest  through  intemperance  they  fall  into  diseases." 

And  he  adds  in  the  margin,  "whosoever  shall  translate  these  sentiments 
into  our  mother  tongue.  I  shall  think  it  was  done  with  an  evil  design  and 
to  bad  purpose."  So  that  if  this  were  a  true  doctrine,  yet  the  learned  author 
agrees,  that  neither  the  holy  writers  of  the  Bible,  nor  the  fathers,  think  it 
proper  that  the  bulk  of  the  people  should  know  it.  But  if  it  should  not 
be  translated,  I  would  ask,  why  did  the  author  write  it,  and  leave  it  to  be 
published  T  Did  he  suppose  all  men  and  boys,  who  understood  Latin,  to  be 
•officiently  guarded  against  the  abuse  of  such  an  ppinion  7 — WATTS. 


332  THE  ETERNAL  DURATION  OP 

of  the  new  covenant,  and  the  riches  of  the  grace  of  Christ, 
and  the  overflowing  measures  of  the  love  of  God,  in  order 
to  save  sinful  men.  "Surely,  say  they,  preachers  have 
tried  long  enough  what  the  words  of  terror  will  do  ;  let 
us  now  alhire  sinful  men  to  be  reconciled  to  God  by  a 
ministry  of  universal  love  and  grace ;  and  let  us  see  whe- 
ther the  boundless  compassions  of  God,  in  putting  a  final 
period  to  the  miseries  of  his  guilty  creatures  after  a  certain 
number  of. years,  will  not  draw  sinners  with  a  sweeter 
violence  to  the  love  and  obedience  of  their  Maker,  than 
all  this  doctrine  of  severity  and  terror." 

In  the  first  place,  I  answer,  that  surely  Jesus  himself, 
who  is  the  prime  minister  of  his  Father's  kingdom,  and 
the  divinest  messenger  of  his  love,  knew  better  than  we 
do,  how  to  pay  the  highest  honour  to  his  heavenly  Fa- 
ther, and  to  display  his  own  grace.  Surely  he  was  well 
acquainted  with  the  best  way  to  begin  with  winners,  in 
order  to  their  reconciliation  to  God,  and  knew  also  the 
most  effectual  avenues  to  the  consciences  of  sinful  crea- 
tures, incomparably  beyond  what  any  of  us  can  pretend 
to.  Had  he  not  as  tender  a  sense  of  the  honour  of  his 
Father's  mercy,  as  warm  a  zeal  for  the  glory  of  his  own 
grace  and  gospel,  and  as  wise  and  melting  a  compassion 
for  the  souls  of  men  as  the  best  of  us  can  boast  of? 
And  yet  he  thought  it  proper  to  lay  the  foundation  of  his 
own,  and  his  Apostles,  ministrations  of.  grace,  in  this  lan- 
guage of  terror,  in  these  threatenings  of  eternal  punish- 
ment. And  in  the  course  of  his  providence  throughout 
all  ages,  he  has,  in  some  measure,  made  this  doctrine  suc- 
cessful to  recover  souls  from  the  snares  of  the  devil,  and 
to  enlarge  his  own  heavenly  kingdom. 

But  I  answer  further,  it  must  be  granted  that  the 
tempers  of  men  are  various,  and  -it  is  possible  that  some 
may  be  of  so  ingenuous  and  refined  a  disposition,  that 
the  words  of  love  and  grace,  without  any  terror,  might 
reach  their  hearts,  and  through  the  influences  of  heaven, 
touch  them  effectually  :  But  as  for  the  bulk  of  mankind, 
while  they  continue  in  their  sins,  daily  experience  con- 
vinceth  us  that  they  are  best  awakened  by  the  terrors  of 
the  Lord,  by  representations  of  the  gnawing  'worm  which 
never  dies/  and  the  'fire  which  shall  not  be  quenched.* 
I  never  knew  but  one  person  in  the  whole  course  of  my 
ministry,  who  acknowledged  that  the  first  motions  of  re- 


THE  PUNISHMENTS  IN  HELL.  333 

ligion  in  their  own  heart  arose  from  a  sense  of  the  good- 
ness of  God,  and  that  they  were  gently  and  sweetly  led  at 
first  to  this  enquiry,  '  What  shall  I  render  to  the  Lord 
who  hath  dealt  so  bountifully  with  me  ?'  But  I  think  all 
besides,  who  have,  come  within  my  notice,  have  rather 
been  first  awakened,  by  the  passion  of  fear,  to  flee  from 
the  wrath  to  come. 

If,  therefore,  we  will  practice,  according  to  the  exam- 
ple of  Jesus,  the  greatest  and '  the  wisest  Prophet  of  his 
church,  and  his  holy  Apostles,  and  the  best  of  preachers 
in  all  ages  who  have  followed  him,  if  we  would  obey  the 
dictates  of  long  experience,  and  our  best  observations  on 
the  methods  of  converting  grace,  I  think  we  must  proceed 
to  denounce  these  eternal  terrors  of  the  Lord  against  the 
transgressors  of  his  law,  and  the  despijers  of  his  gospel. 
This  seems  to  be  the  appointed  and  most  effectual  way  to 
rouse  their  consciences  to  seek  a  deliverance  from  the 
curses  of  the  law,  which  carry  in  them  everlasting  punish- 
ment. This  appears  to  be  the  first  spring  of  religion  in 
sinful  men,  and  the  first  motive  to  receive  the  glad  tidings 
of  salvation  which  are  displayed  in  the  New  Testament. 
This  spurs  on  their  passions  to  escape  the  vengeance  of 
God,  by  fleeing  to  his  gospel,  where  there  is  rich  and 
abundant  grace  to  encourage  the  hope  of  rebellious  crea- 
tures in  their  returns,  to  God  by  Jesus  Christ  the  Saviour,. 
To  Jesus,  who  is  the  awful  messenger  of  his  father's  ter- 
rors, and  the  prime  minister  of  his  love,  be  glory  and 
honour  to  everlasting  ages.  Amen. 


AN  ESSAY 

TOWARD  THE  PROOF  OF  A  SEPARATE  STATE  OF  SOULS 
BETWEEN  DEATH  AND  THE  RESURRECTION. 


§  I.  The  introduction  or  proposal  of  the  question, 
with  a  distinction  of  the  persons  who  oppose  it. 

IT  is  confessed  that  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of 
the  dead  at  the  last  day,  and  the  everlasting  joys,  and  the 
eternal  sorrows,  that  shall  succeed  it,  as  they  are  describ- 
ed in  the  New  Testament,  are  a  very  awful  sanction  to  the 
gospel  of  Christ,  and  carry  in  them  such  principles  of  hope 
and  terror  as  should  effectually  discourage  vice  and  irreli- 
gion,  and  become  a  powerful  attractive  to  the  practice  of 
faith  and  love,  and  universal  holiness. 

But  so  corrupt  and  perverse  are  the  inclinations  of  men 
in  this  fallen  and  degenerate  world,  and  their  passions  are 
so  much  impressed  and  moved  by  things  that  are  present 
or  just  at  hand,  that  the  joys  of  heaven,  and  the  sorrows  of 
hell,  when  set  far  beyond  death  and  the  grave  at  some 
vast  unknown  distance  of  time,  would  have  but  too  little 
influence  on  their  hearts  and  lives.  And  though  these 
solemn  and  important  events  are  never  so  certain  in  them- 
selves, yet  being  looked  upon  as  things  a  great  way  off, 
make  too  feeble  an  impression  on  the  conscience,  and  their 
distance  is  much  abused  to  givean  indulgence  to  present,  sen- 
sualities. For  this  we  have  the  testimony  of  our  blessed 
Saviour  himself,  Matt.  xxiv.  48,  "  The  evil  servant  says, 
my  Lord  delays  his  coming  ;  then  he  begins  to  smite  his 
fellow  servants,  and  to  eat  and  drink  with  the  drunken.'' 
And  Solomon  teaches  us  the  same  truth,  Eccles.  viii.  11, 
"  Because  sentence  against  an  evil  work  is  not  executed 
speedily,  therefore  the  heart  of  the  sons  of  men  is  ful- 
ly set  in  them  to  do  evil."  And  even  the  good  servants 
in  this  imperfect  state,  the  sons  of  virtue  and  piety, 
may  be  too  much  allured  to  indulge  sinful  negligence, 

334 


A  SEPARATE  STATE.  335 

and  yield  to  temptations  too  easily  when  the  terrors  of 
another  world  are  set  so  far  off,  and  their  hope  of  happi- 
ness is  delayed  so  long.  It  is  granted,  indeed,  that  this 
sort  of  reasoning  is  very  urtjust ;  hut  so  foolish  are  our  na- 
tures, that  we  are  too  ready  to  take  up  with  it,  and  to  grow 
more  remiss  in  the  cause  of  relig'on. 

Whereas,  if  it  can  be  made  to  appear  from  the  word  of 
God,  that,  at  the  moment  of  death,  the  soul  enters  into  an 
unchangeable  state,  according  to  its  character  and  conduct 
here  on  earth,  and  that  the  recompences  of  vice  and  virtue, 
are,  in  some  measure,  to  begin  immediately  upon  the  end 
of  our  state  of  trial  ;  and  if,  besides  all  this,  there  be  a  glo- 
rious and  a  dreadful  resurrection  to  be  expected,  with  eter- 
nal pain  or  eternal  pleasure  both  for  soul  and  body,  and 
that  in  a  more  intense  degree,  when  the  theatre  of  this 
world  is  shut  up,  and  Christ  Jesus  appears  to  pronounce 
his  public  judgment  on  the  world,  then  all  those  little  sub- 
terfuges are  precluded,  which  mankind  would  form  to 
themselves  from  the  unknown  distance  of  the  day  of  re- 
compence.  Virtue  will  have  a  nearer  and  stronger  guard 
placed  about  it,  and  piety  will  be  attended  with  superior 
motives,  if  its  initial  rewards  are  near  at  hand,  and  shall 
commence  as  soon  as  this  life  expires  ;  and  the  vicious  and 
profane  will  be  more  effectually  affrighted,  if  the  hour  of 
death  must  immediately  consign  them  to  a  state  of  perpet- 
ual sorrows  and  bitter  anguish  of  conscience,  without  hope, 
and  with  a  fearful  expectation  of  yet  greater  sorrows  and, 
anguish. 

I  know  what  the  opposers  of  the  Separate  State  reply 
here,  viz.  That  the  whole  time  from  death  to  the  resurrec-' 
tion  is  but  as  the  sleep  of  a  night,  and  the  dead  shall  awake 
out  of  their  graves,  utterly  ignorant  and  insensible  of 
the  long  distance  of  time  that  hath  past  since  their  death. 
One  year  or  one  thousand  years  will  be  the  same  thing  to 
them ;  and  therefore,  they  should  be  as  careful  to  prepare 
for  the  day  of  judgment,  and  the  rewards  that  attend  it,  as 
they  are  for  their  entrance  into  the  Separate  State  at 'death, 
if  there  were  any  such  state  to  receive  them. 

I  grant,  men  should  be  so  in  reason  and  justice  :  but 
such  is  the  weakness  and  folly  of  our  natures,  that  men 
will  not  be  so  much  influenced  nor  alarmed  by  distant  pros- 
pects, nor  so  solicitous  to  prepare  for  an  event  which  they 
suppose  to  be  so  very  far  off,  as  they  would  for  the  same 


336  ESSAY  TOWARDS  THE  PKOOF  OP 

event,  if  it  commences  as  soon  as  ever  this  mortal  life  ex- 
pires. The  vicious  man  will  indulge  his  sensualities,  and 
lie  down  to  sleep  in  death  with  this  comfort,  (  I  shall  take 
my  rest  here  for  a  hundred  or  «a  thousand  years,  and  per- 
haps, in  all  that  space,  my  offences  may  be  forgotten,  or 
something  may  happen  that  I  may  escape  :  or,  let  the  worst 
come  that  can  come,  I  shall  have  a  long  sweet  nap  before 
my  sorrows  begin.  Thus  the  force  of  divine  terrors  are 
greatly  enervated  by  this  delay  of  punishment. 

I  will  not  undertake  to  determine,  when  the  soul  is  dis- 
missed from  the  body,  whether  there  be  any  explicit  di- 
vine sentence  passed  concerning  its  eternal  state  of  happi- 
ness or  misery,  according  to  its  works  in  thjs  life  ;  or 
whether  the  pain  or  pleasure  that  belongs  to  the  State  be 
not  chiefly  such  a'S  arises  by  natural  consequence  from  a 
life  of  sin  or  a  life  of  holiness,  and  as  being  under  the  pow- 
er of  an  approving  or  a  condemning  conscience.  But,  it 
seems  to  me  more  probable,  that  since  "  the  spirit  returns 
to  God  that  gave  it,  to  God  the  Judge  of  all,"  with  whom 
"the  spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect"  dwell,  and)  since 
the  spirit  of  a  Christian,  when  "absent  from  the  body,  is 
present  with  the  Lord,"  i.  e.  Christ,  I  am  more  inclined 
to  think  that  there  is  some  sort  of  judicial  determination 
of  this  important  point,  either  by  God  himself,  or  by  Jesus 
Christ,  into  whose  hands  "he  has  committed  all  judgment." 
Heb.  ix.  27.  "  It  is  appointed  unto  men  once  to  die,  but 
after  this  the  judgment :"  whether  immediate  or  more 
distant,  is  not  here  expressly  declared,  though  the  imme 
diate  connection  of  the  words  hardly  gives  room  for  seven- 
teen hundred  years  to  intervene.  But,  if  the  solemn  for- 
malities of  a  judgment  be  delayed,  yet  the  conscience  of  a 
separate  spirit,  reflecting*  on  a  holy  or  a  sinful  life,  is  suffi- 
cient to  begin  a  heaven  or  a  hell  immediately  after  death. 

Amongst  those  who  delay  the  season  of  recompence  till 
the  resurrection,  there  are  some  who  suppose  the  soul  to 
exist  still  as  a  distinct  being  from  the  body,  but  to  pass 
the  whole  interval  of  time  in  a  state  of  stupor  or  sleep, 
being  altogether  unconscious  and  unactive.  Others  again 
imagine,  that  the  soul  itself  has  not  a  sufficient  distinction 
from  the  body  to  give  it  any  proper  existence  when  the 
body  dies  ;  but  that  its  existence  shall  be  renewed  at  the 
resurrection  of  the  body,  and  then  be  made  the  subject  of 
joy  or  pain,  according  to  its  behaviour  in  this  mortal  state. 


A  SEPARATE  STATE.  337 

I  think  there  might  be  an  effectual  argument  against 
each  of  these  opinions  raised  from  the  principles  of  phi- 
losophy:  I  shall  just  give  a  hint  of  them,  and  then  pro- 
ceed to  search  what  Scripture  has  revealed  in  this  matter, 
which  is  of  much  greater  importance  to  us,  and  will  have 
a  more  powerful  influence  on  the  minds  of  Christians. 

I.  Some  imagine  the  soul  of  man  to  be  his  blood  or  his 
breath,  or  a  sort  of  vital  flame,  or  refined  air  or  vapour,  or 
the  composition  and  motion  of  the  fluids  and  solids  in  the 
animal  body.     This  they  suppose  to  be  the  spring,  or  prin- 
ciple of  his  intellectual  life,  and  of  all   his  thoughts  and 
consciousness,  as  well  as  of  his  animal  life.     And  though 
this  soul  of  man  dies  together  with  the   body,  and  has  no 
manner  of  separate  existence  or  consciousness,  yet  when 
his  body  is  raised  from  the  grave,  they  suppose  this  prin- 
ciple of  consciousness  is  renewed  again,  and  intellectual 
life  is  given  him  at  the  resurrection  as  well  as  a  new  cor- 
poreal life. 

But  it  should  be  considered,  that  this  conscious  or  think- 
ing principle  having  lost  its  existence  for  a  season,  it  will 
be  quite  a  new  thing,  or  another  creature  at  the  resurrec- 
tion ;  and  the  man  will  be  properly  another  person,  anoth- 
er self,  another  I  or  he :  and  such  a  new  conscious  princi- 
ple or  person  cannot  properly  be  rewarded  or  punished  for 
personal  virtues  or  vices  of  which  itself  cannot  be  con- 
scious by  any  power  of  memory  or  reflection,  and  which 
were  transacted  in  this  mortal  state  by  another  distinct 
principle  of  consciousness.  For  if  the  conscious  princi- 
ple itself,  or  the  thinking  being  has  ceased  to  exist,  it  is 
impossible  that  it  should  retain  any  memory  of  former  ac- 
tions, since  itself  began  to  be  but  in  the  moment  of  the 
resurrection.  The  doctrine  of  rewarding  or  punishing  the 
same  soul  or  intelligent  nature  which  did  good  or  evil  in 
this  life,  necessarily  requires  that  the  same  soul  or  intelli- 
gent nature  should  havea  continued  and  uninterrupted  exis- 
tence, that  so  the  same  conscious  being  which  did  good  or 
evil  may  be  rewarded  or  punished. 

II.  Those  who  suppose  the  so-il  of  man  to  have  a  real 
distinct  existence  when  the  body  dies,  but  only  to  fall  into 
a  state  of  slumber  without  consciousness  or  activity,  must, 
I  think,  suppose  this  soul  to  be  material,  i.  e.  an  extended 
and  solid  substance. 

If  they  suppose  it  to  be  inextended,  or  to  have  no  parte 
43  2D 


338  ESSAY  TOWARDS  THE  PROOF  OP 

or  quantity,  I  confess  I  have  no  manner  of  idea  of  the  ex- 
istence or  possibility  of  such  an  inextended  being,  with- 
out consciousness  or  active  power  ;  nor  do  they  pretend 
to  have  any  such  idea  as  I  ever  heard,  and  therefore  they 
generally  grant  it  to  be  extended. 

But  if  they  imagine  the  soul  to  be  extended,  it  must 
either  have  something  more  of  solidity  or  density  than 
mere  empty  space,  or  it  must  be  quite  as  unsolid  and  thin 
as  space  itself.  Let  us  consider  both  these. 

If  it  be  as  thin  and  subtle  as  mere  empty  space,  yet 
while  it  is  active  and  conscious,  I  own  it  must  have  a 
proper  existence  ;  but  if  it  once  begin  to  sleep  and  drop 
all  conscipusness  and  activity,  I  have  no  other  idea  of  it, 
but  the  same  which  I  have  of  empty  space ;  and  that  I 
conceive  to  be  mere  nothing,  though  it  impose  upon  us 
with  the  appearance  of  some  sort  of  properties. 

If  they  allow  the  soul  to  have  any  the  least  degree  of 
density  above'what  belongs  to  empty  space,  this  is  solidity 
in  the  philosophic  sense  of  the  word,  and  then  it  is  solid 
extension,  which  I  call  matter  :  and  a  material  being  may 
indeed  be  laid  asleep,  i.  e.  it  may  cease  to  have  any  motion 
in  its  parts ;  but  motion  is  not  consciousness  :  and  how 
either  solid  or  unsolid  extension,  either  space  or  matter, 
can  have  any  consciousness  or  thought  belonging  to  any 
part  of  it,  or  spread  through  the  whole  of  it,  I  know  not ; 
or  what  any  sort  of  extension  can  do  toward  thought  or 
consciousness,  I  confess  I  understand  not;  nor  can  I  frame 
any  more  an  idea  of  it,  than  I  can  of  a  blue  motion  or  a 
sweet  smelling  sound,  or  of  fire  or  air  or  water  reasoning 
or  rejoicing  :  and  I  do  not  affect  to  speak  of  things  or 
words,  when  I  can  form  no  correspondent  ideas  of  what 
is  spoken. 

So  far  as  I  can  judge,  the  soul  of  man  in  its  own  nature, 
is  nothing  else  but  a  conscious  and  active  principle,  sub- 
sisting by  itself,  made  after  the  image  of  God,  who  is  all 
conscious  activity  ;  and  it  is  still  the  same  being,  whether 
it  be  united  to  an  animal  body,  or  separated  from  it.  If 
the  body  die,  the  soul  still  exists  an  active  and  conscious 
power  or  principle,  or  being  ;  and  if  it  ceases  to  be  con- 
scious and  active,  I  think  it  ceases  to  be  ;  for  I  have  no 
conception  of  what  remains. 

Now,  if  the  conscious  principle  continue  conscious  after 
death,  it  will  not  be  in  a  mere  conscious  indolence :  the 


A  SEPARATE  STATE.  339 

good  man  and  the  wicked  will  not  have  the  same  indolent 
existence.  Virtue  or  vice,  in  the  very  temper  of  this  be- 
ing when  absent  from  matter  or  body,  will  become  a 
pleasure  or  a  pain  to  the  conscience  of  a  separate  spirit 

I  am  well  aware  that  this  is  a  subject  which  has  employ- 
ed the  thoughts  of  many  philosophers,  and  I  do  but  just 
intimate  my  own  sentiments  without  presuming  to  judge 
for  others.  But  the  defence  or  refutation  of  arguments  on 
this  subject,  would  draw  me  into  a  field  of  philosophical 
discourse,  which  is  very  foreign  to  my  present  purpose  : 
and  whether  this  reasoning  stand  or  fall,  it  will  have  but 
very  little  influence  on  this  controversy  with  the  generality 
of  Christians,  because  it  is  a  thing  rather  to  be  determined 
by  the  revelation  of  the  word  of  God.  I  therefore  drop 
this  argument  at  once,  and  apply  myself  immediately  to 
consider  the  proofs  that  may  be  drawn  from  Scripture  for 
the  soul's  existence  in  a  Separate  State  after  death,  and 
before  the  resurrection. 

§  II.   Probable  arguments  for  the  Separate  State.      ' 

There  are  several  places  of  Scripture  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, as  well  as  in  the  New,  which  may  be  most  naturally 
and  properly  construed  to  signify  the  existence  of  the  soul 
in  a  Separate  State  after  the  body  is  dead  ;  but  since  they 
do  not  curry  with  them  such  plain  evidence,  or  forcible 
proof,  and  may  possibly  be  interpreted  to  another  sense, 
I  shall  not  long  insist  upon  them  :  however  it  may  not  be 
amiss  just  to  mention  a  few  of  them,  and  pass  away. 

Psal.  Ixxiii.  24,26.  "Thou  shalt  guide  me  with  thy 
counsel,  and  afterward  receive  me  to  glory  :  my  flesh  and 
my  heart  faileth  ;  but  God  is  the  strength  of  my  heart 
and  my  portion  for  ever."  In  these  verses  'receiving  to 
glory'  seems  immediately  to  follow  a  guidance  through 
this  world  ;  and  when  'the  flesh  and  heart'  of  the  Psalmist 
should  'fail  him'  in  death,  God  continued  to  be  his  'por- 
tion for  ever,'  God  would  receive  him  to  himself  as  such 
a  portion,  and  thereby  he  gave  strength  or  '  courage  to 
his  heart'  even  in  a  dying  hour.  It  would  be  a  very  odd 
and  unnatural  exposition  of  this  text  to  interpret  it 
only  of  the  resurrection,  thus,  "  Thou  shalt  guide 
me  b\'  thy  counsel  through  this  life,  and  after  the  long 
interval  of  some  thousand  years  thou  wilt  receive  me  to 
glory." 

Eccles.  xii.  7,  "  Then  shall  the  dust  return  to  the  earth 


340  ESSAY  TOWARDS  THE  PROOF  OF 

as  it  was,  and  the  spirit  to  God  that  gave  it."  It  is  confes- 
sed the  word  spirit  in  the  Hebrew  is  the  same  with  breath, 
and  is  represented  in  some  places  of  Scripture  as  the  spring 
of  animal  life  to  the  body  :  yet  it  is  evident  in  many  other 
places,  the  word  spirit  signifies  the  conscious  principle  in 
man,  or  the  intelligent  heing,  which  knows  and  reasons, 
perceives  and  acts.  The  Scripture  speaks  of  heing  "grieved 
inspirit,"  Isa.  liv.  6;  of  "rejoicing  in  spirit,"  Luke  x. 
21  ;  "the  spirit  of  a  man  knoweth  the  things  of  a  man," 
1  Cor.  ii.  11  :  "there  is  a  spirit  in  man,"  i.  e.  a  principle 
of  understanding,  Job  xxxii.  8  ;  and  'this  spirit'  both  of 
the  wicked  and  the  righteous  at  death  "returns  to  God," 
Eccl.  xii.  7,  to  God  who  (as  I  hinted  before)  is  the  'Judge 
of  all'  in  the  world  of  spirits,  probably  to  be  further  de- 
termined and  disposed  of,  as  to  its  state  of  reward  or 
punishment. 

Isa.  Ivii.  2,  "  The  righteous  is  taken  away  from  the  evil 
to  come,  he  shall  enter  into  peace,  they  shall  rest  in  their 
beds,  each  one  walking  in  his  uprightness."  The  soul  of 
every  one  that  walketh  uprightly  shall  at  death  enter  into 
a  state  of  peace  while  their  body  rests  in  the  bed  of  dust. 

Luke  ix.  30,  31,  "And  behold  there  talked  with  him, 
(i.  e.  with  Jesus,)  two  men  which  were  Moses  and  Elias, 
who  appeared  ia  glory,  and  spake  of  his  decease  which  he 
should  accomplish  at.  Jerusalem."  I  grant  it  possible  that 
these  might  be  but  mere  visions  which  appeared  to  our 
blessed  Saviour  and  his  apostles  :  but  it  is  a  much  more 
natural  and  obvious  interpretation  to  suppose  that  the 
spirits  of  these  two  great  men  whereof  one  was  the  in- 
Stitutor,  and  the  other  the  reformer  of  the  Jewish  church, 
did  really  appear  to  Christ,  who  was  the  reformer  of  the 
world,  and  the  institutor  of  the  Christian  church,  and  con- 
verse with  him  about  the  important  event  of  his  death 
and  his  return  to  heaven.  Perhaps  the  spirit  of  Elijah 
had  his  heavenly  body  with  him  there,  since  he  never  died, 
but  was  carried  alive  to  heaven  ;  but  Moses  gave  up  his 
soul  at  the  call  of  God  when  no  man  was  near  him,  and 
his  body  was  buried  by  God  himself,  (see  2  Kings  ii.  11. 
and  Deut.  xxxiv.  1,  5,  6,)  and  his  spirit  was  probably  made 
visible  only  by  an  assumed  vehicle  for  that  purpose. 

John  v.  24,  "Whoso  heareth  my  word  and  believeth 
on  him  that  sent  me,  hath  everlasting  life  ;  is  passed  from 
death  to  life."  John  vi.  47,  50,  51,  "This  is  the  bread 


A  SEPARATE  STATE.  341 

which  cometh  down  from  heaven,  that  a  man  may  eat 
thereof  and  not  die.  If  any  man  eat  of  this  bread,  he  shall 
live  for  ever."  John  xi.  26,  "  Whoso  liveth  and  believeth 
in  me,  shall  never  die,"  to  which  may  be  added  the  words 
of  Christ  to  the  woman  of  Samaria,  John  iv.  14,  "The 
water  that  I  shall  give  him  shall  be  in  him  a  well  of  water, 
springing  up  into  everlasting  life."  1  John  v.  12,  "He  that 
hath  the  Son  hath  life,"  &c.  The  argument  I  draw  from 
these  Scriptures  in  this.  It  is  hardly  to  be  supposed  that 
our  Saviour  in  this  gospel,  and  John  in  his  first  epistle 
imitating  him,  should  speak  such  strong  language  concern- 
ing eternal  life,  actually  given  to  and  possessed  by  the 
believers  of  that  day,  if  there  must  be  an  interruption  of 
it  by  total  death  or  sleep  both  of  soul  and  body  for  almost 
two  thousand  years,  i.  e.  till  the  resurrection. 

Acts  vii.  59,  "And  they  stoned  Stephen  calling  upon 
God,  and  saying,  Lord  Jesus  receive  my  spirit."  Those  who 
deny  a  Separate  State,  suppose  that  Stephen  here  commits 
his  spirit,  or  principle  of  human  life,  into  the  hands  or 
care  of  Christ  (because  the  life  of  a  saint  is  said  to  be 
"hid  with  Christ  in  God,"  Colos.  iii.  3,4,)  that  he  might 
restore  it  at  the  resurrection,  and  raise  him  to  life  again. 
But  I  think  this  is  an  unnatural  force  put  upon  these  words, 
contrary  to  their  most  obvious  meaning,  if  we  consider 
the  context  :  for  Stephen  here  had  a  vision  of  the  "Son 
of  man,  (or  Christ  Jesus,)  standing  on  the  right  hand  of 
God,  and  the  glory  of  God  near  him  ;"  see  ver.  55,  56. 
Whereupon  Stephen  being  conscious  of  the  existence  of 
Christ  in  that  glorious  state,  desired  that  he  would  receive 
his  spirit,  and  take  it  to  dwell  with  him  in  his  Father'shouse ; 
not  to  lie  and  sleep  in  heaven,  for  "there  is  no  night 
there,"  but  to  behold  the  glory  of  Christ  according  to  the 
many  promises  that  Christ  had  made  to  his  disciples,  that 
he  "would  go  and  prepare  a  place  for  them  in  his  Father's 
house,"  and  that  they  should  be  "  with  him  there  to 
behold  his  glory,"  John  xiv,  and  xvii,  which  I  shall  have 
occasion  to  speak  of  afterward. 

Rom.  viii.  10,  11.  "  And  if  Christ  be  in  you,  the  body 
is  dead  because  of  sin,  but  the  spirit  is  life  because  of 
righteousness,"  i.  e.  if  Christ  dwell  in  you  by  the  sancti- 
fying influences  of  his  Spirit,  it  is  true  indeed,  your  body 
is  mortal  and  must  die,  because  it  is  doomed  to  death  from 
the  fall  of  Adam  on  the  account  of  sin,  and  because  sinful 
2  D  2 


342  ESSAY  TOWARDS  THE  PROOF  OF 

principles  still  dwell  in  this  fleshly  body  ;  but  your  soaf 
or  spirit  is  life,  or  (as  some  copies  read  £«  instead  of  &»}  your 
spirit  lives  when  the  body  is  dead,  and  enjoys  a  life  of  hap- 
piness, because  of  the  righteousness  imputed  to  you,  i.  c. 
"your  justification  unto  life,"  Rom.  v.  17,  18.  21.  I 
know  there  are  several  other  ways  of  construing  the  words 
of  this  verse  by  metaphors  ;  but  the  plain  and  most  natur- 
al antithesis  which  appears  here  between  the  death  of  the 
body  of  a  saint  because  of  sin  or  guilt,  and  the  continu- 
ance of  the  spirit  or  soul  in  a  life  of  peace  because  of  justi- 
fication or  righteousness,  and  that  even  when  the  body  is 
dead,  gives  a  pretty  clear  proof  that  this  is  the  sense  of 
the  apostle.  This  is  also  further  confirmed  by  the  next 
verse,  which  promises  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  body 
in  due  time.  "  If  the  Spirit  of  him  that  raised  up  Christ 
from  the  dead  dwell  in  you,  he  that  raised  up  Christ  from 
the  dead,"  i.  e.  God  the  Father,  "shall  also  quicken 
your  mortal  bodies  by  his  Spirit  that  dwelleth  in  you." 
The  spirit  or  soul  of  the  saint  lives  without  dying,  because 
of  its  pardon  of  sin  and  justification  and  sanctification,  in 
the  10th  verse  ;  and  the  body  (not  the  spirit  or  soul)  shall 
be  quickened  or  raised  to  life  again,  by  the  blessed  Spirit 
of  God  which  dwells  in  the  saints,  ver.  11. 

2  Cor.  v.  1,2,  "  For  we  know  that  if  our  earthly  house 
of  this  tabernacle  were  dissolved,  we  have  a  building  of 
God,  an  house  not  made  with  hands  eternal  in  the  heavens. 
For  in  this  we  groan  earnestly,  desiring  to  be  clothed  upon 
with  our  house  which  is  from  heaven."     Ver.  4,  "  We  in 
this   tabernacle  groan  being   burdened,  not  for  that  *we 
would  be  unclothed,  but  clothed  upon,  that  mortality  might 
be  swallowed  up  of  life."  It  is  evident  that  this  '  house  from 
heaven,'  this  '  building  of  God,'   is  something  which  is 
like  the  clothing  of  a  soul  divested  of  this  '  earthly  taber- 
nacle,' ver.  1,  2,  or  it  is  the  clothing  of  the  whole  person, 
body  and  soul,  which  would  abrogate  the  state  of  mortali- 
ty, and l  swallow  it  up  in  life,'  ver.  4.     For  though  in  ver. 
4,  the  apostle  supposes  that  the  soul  doth  not  desire  the 
death  of  the  body,  or  that  itself  should  be  unclothed,  and 
therefore  he  would  rather  choose  to  have  this  state  of  bles- 
sed immortality  superinduced  on  his  body  and  soul  at 
once  without  dying,    yet  in  the  first  verse  he  plainly 
means  such  a  house  in  or  from  heaven,  or  such  a  cloth- 
ing which  may  come  upon  the  soul  immediately  as  soon. 


A  SEPARATE  STATE.  343 

as  the  -'earthly  house'  or  'tabernacle  of  his  body  is 
dissolved.'  And  how  dubious  soever  this  may  ap- 
pear to  those  who  read  the  chapter  only  thus  far,  yet 
the  8th  verse,  which  supposes  good  men  to  be  '  present 
with  Christ'  when  'absent  from  the  body,'  determines 
the  sense  of  it  as  I  have  explained  it ;  of  which  hereafter. 
Perhaps  it  is  hard  to  determine,  whether  this  superin- 
duced clothing  be  like  the  Shechinah  or  Visible  glory  in 
which  Christ,  Moses,  and  Elias,  appeared  at  the  transfi- 
guration, and  which  some  suppose  to  have  belonged  to 
Adam  in  innocency;  or  whether  it  signify  only  'a 
state  of  happy  immortality,'  superinduced  OF  brought  in 
upon  the  departing  soul  at  death,  or  upon  the  soul,  and  body 
united  as  in  thislife,  and  with  which  those  saints  shall  be  cloth- 
ed, who  are  "  found  alive  at  the  coming  of  Christ,"  accord- 
ing to  1  Cor.  xv.  52,  53,  54,  which  will  not  kill  the  body, 
but  swallow  up  its  mortal  state  in  immortal  life. 

Let  this  matter,  I  say,  be  determined  either  way,  yet  the 
great  point  seems  to  be  evident,  even  beyond  probability, 
that  there  is  a  conscious  being  spoken  of,  which  is  very  dis- 
tinct from  its  tabernacle,  or  house,  or  clothing,  and  which  ex- 
ists still,  whatever  its  clothing  or  its  dwelling  bo, or  whether 
it  be  put  off,  or  put  on  ;  and  that,  when  the  earthly  house  or 
vessel  is  dissolved  or  put  of,  the  heavenly  house  or  clothing 
is  ready  at  hand  to  be  put  on  immediately,  to  render  the  soul 
of  the  Christian  fit  to  be  present  with  the  Lord. 

2  Cor.  xii.  2,  3,  "  1  knew  a  man  in  Christ  above  fourteen 
years  ago,  whether  in  the  body  or  out  of  the  body,  I  cannot 
tell, God  knoweth  ;  howthathe  was  caught  up  into  paradise, 
and  heard  unspeakable  words."  I  grant  this  ecstacy  of  the 
apostle  does  not  actually  shew  the  existence  of  a  Separate 
State  after  death  till  the  resurrection  ;  yet  it  plainly  manifests 
St.  Paul's  belief,  that  there  might  be  such  a  state,  and  that 
the  soul  might  be  separated  from  the  body,  and  exist  and 
think,  and  know,  and  act,  in  paradise,  in  a  state  of  separa- 
tion,and  hear,  and  perhaps  converse  in  the  unspeakable  lan- 
guage of  that  world,  while  it  was  'absent  from  the  body.' 

And,  as  I  acknowledge  I  am  one  of  those  persons  who 
do  not  believe  that  the  intellectual  spirit  or  mind  of  man 
is  the  proper  principle  of  animal  life  to  the  body,  but  that 
it  is  another  distinct  conscious  being,  that  generally  uses 
the  body  as  an  habitation,  engine,  or  instrument,  while  its 
animal  life  remains  ;  so  I  am  of  opinion,  it  is  a  possible 


344  ESSAY  TOWARDS  THE  PROOF  OF 

thing  for  the  intellectual  spirit,  in  a  miraculous  manner, 
by  the  special  order  of  God,  to  act  in  a  state  of  separation 
without  the  death  of  the  animal  body,  since  the  life  of  the 
body  depends  upon  breath  and  air,  and  the  regular  temper 
and  motion  of  the  solids  and  fluids,  of  which  it  is  compos- 
ed;* And  St.  Paul  seems  here  to  be  of  the  same  mind, 
by  his  doubting  whether  his  spirit  was  'in  the  body  or  out 
of  the  body,'  whilst  it  was  '  rapt  into  the  third  heaven'  and 
enjoyed  this  vision,  his  body  being  yet  alive. 

Phil.  i.  21,  "For  me  to  live  is  Christ,  and  to  die  is 
gain."  The  apostle,  whilst  he  was  here  upon  earth,  spent 
his  life  in  the  service  of  Christ,  and  enjoyed  many  glori- 
ous communications  from  him.  "For  him  to  live  was 
Christ."  And,  on  this  account,  he  was  contented  to  con- 
tinue here  in  life  longer:  yet  he  is  well  satisfied  that  death 
would  be  an  advantage  or  gain  to  him.  Now  we  can  hard- 
ly imagine  what  gain  it  would  be  for  St.  Paul  to  die,  if 
his  soul  immediately  went  to  sleep  and  became  unactive  and 
unconscious,  while  his  body  lay  in  the  grave,  and  neither 
soul  nor  body  could  do  any  service  for  Christ,  or  receive 
any  communications  from  him,  till  the  great  rising-day.  This 
text  seeny  to  carry  .the  argument  above  a  mere  probability. 

•  It  would  be  thought,  perhaps,  a  little  foreign  to  my  pn>ei;t  purpose,  if  I 
should  stay  here,  to  prove  that  it  is  not  the  conscious  principle  in  man  that 
gives  or  maintains  the  animal  life  of  his  hotly.  It  is  granted,  that,  according 
to  the  course  of  nature,  and  the  general  appointment  of  God  therein,  this 
conscious  principle  or  spirit  continues  its  communications  with  the  body, 
while  the  body  has  animal  life,  or  is  capable  of  its  natural  motions,  and 
able  to  obey  the  volition  of  the  spirit ;  and,  on  this  account,  the  '  union  of 
the  rational  spirit  to  the  body,'  and  '  the  animal  life  of  the  body,'  are  often 
represented  as  one  and  the  same  thing. 

But,  if  we  enter  into  a  philosophical  consideration  of  things,  we  should  re- 
member that  animals  of  every  kind  in  earth,  air,  and  sea,  and  even  the  minu- 
test insects  which  swarm  in  millions,  and  worlds  of  them,  which  are  invis- 
ible to  the  naked  eye,  have  all  an  animal  life,  but  no  such  conscious  or  think- 
ing principle  as  is  in  man :  and  why  may  not  the  body  of  man  have  the 
same  sort  of  animal  life  quite  distinct  from  the  conscious  spirit  1 

Besides,  if  this  conscious  principle  give  life  to  the  body,  medicines  and 
physicians  whose  power  reaches  only  to  rectify  the  disordered  solids  or 
fluids  of  the  body,  would  not  be  so  necessary  to  preserve  life,  as  an  oratorio 
persuade  the  spirit  to  continue  in  the  body  and  preserve  its  life.  And  ac- 
cordingly, we  read  of  foreign  ignorant  nations,  where  the  kindred  persuade 
the  dying  person  to  live  and  tarry  with  them,  and  not  to  f  rsake  them  ;  and, 
when  the  person  is  dead,  they  mourn  and  reprove  him, '  N\  hy  were  you  so 
unkind  to  leave  and  forsake  us  '!'  and  indeed  this  conduct  of  those  poor  sav- 
ages is  a  very  natural  inference  from  their  supposition  of  the*  intelligent  spi- 
rit giving  animal  life  to  the  body. 


A  SEPARATE  STATE.  345 

1  Thess.  iv.  14,  "For  if  we  believe  that  Jesus  died,  and 
rose  again,  even  so  them  also  which  sleep  in  Jesus  will 
God  bring  with  him."  The  most  natural  and  evident  sense 
of  these  words  is  this,  that  when  the  man  Jesus  Christ  (in 
whom  dwells  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead)  shall  descend 
from  heaven,  in  order  to  raise  the  dead  bodies  of  those  that 
died  or  went  to  bleep  in  the  faith  of  Christ,  God  dwelling 
in  him,  will  bring  with  him  the  souls  of  his  saints  who 
were  in  paradise,  down  to  earth  to  be  reunited  to  their  bo- 
dies when  Jesus  raises  them  from  the  dead,  of  which  the 
apostle  speaks  in  the  6th  verse:  this,  I  say,  is.  the  most  na- 
tural and  obvious  sense :  other  paraphrases  of  the  words 
seem  strained  and  unnatural. 

1  Thess.  v.  10,  "Jesus  Christ,  who  died  for  us,  that 
whether  we  wake  or  sleep,  we  should  live  together  with 
him."  Sleep  is  the  death  of  good  men,  in  the  language  of 
the  apostle,  in  chap.  iv.  13,  14,  15,  and  sleep  in  this  verse, 
can  neither  signify  natural  sleep,  £S  ver.  7,  nor  spiritual 
sloth,  as  ver.  6,  therefore  it  must  signify  death  here.  Now, 
they  who  sleep  in  Christ,  in  this  sense,  do  still  live  to- 
gether with  him  in  their  souls,  and  shall  live  with  him  in 
th«ir  bodies  also,  when  raised  from  the  dead.  This  expo- 
sition arises  near  to  a  certainty  of  evidence. 

1  Pet.  iii.  18,  19,  20,  "Christ  was  put  to  death  in  the 
flesh,  but  quickened  by  the  Spirit;  by  which  also  he  went 
and  preached  unio  the  spirits  in  prison,  which  sometime 
were  disobedient,  when  once  the  long-suffering  of  God 
waited  in  the  days  of  Noah."  I  confess  this  is  a  text  that 
has  much  puzzled  interpreters,  in  what  sense  Christ  may 
be  said  "to  go  and  preach"  to  those  ancient  rebels  who 
were  destroyed  by  the  flood :  whether  he  did  it  by  his 
spirit  working  in  Noah  the  "  preacher  of  righteousness" 
in  those  days;  or  whether,  in  the  three  days  in  which 
the  body  of  Christ  lay  de^d,  his  soul  visited  the  spir- 
its of  those  rebels  in  their  separate  state  cf  imprison- 
ment, on  which  some  ground  the  notion  of  his  descent  in- 
to hell.  But,  let  this  be  determined  as  it  will,  *  the  most 
clear  and  easy  sense  of  the  apostle,  when  he  speaks  ol  the 
"spirits  in  prison,"  is,  that  the  souls  of  those  rebels,  after  their 
bodies  were  destroyed  by  the  flood,  were  reserved  in  pri- 
son for  some  special  and  future  design.  And  this  is  very 

44  "See  Note,  page  100,  supra. 


34fi  ESSAY  TOWARDS  THE  PROOF  OF 

parallel  to  the  present  circumstances  of  fallen  angels  in 
Jude  ver.  4,  "The  angels  that  kept  not  their  first  estate, 
he  hath  reserved  in  everlasting  chains  under  darkness,  unto 
the  judgment  of  the  great  day  :"  and  why  may  not  the 
spirits  of  men  be  as  well  kept  in  such  a  prison  as  angelic 
spirits? 

Jude  ver.  7, '  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  are  set  forth  for  an 
example,  suffering  the  vengeance  of  eternal  fire.'  It 
is  evident  that  the  material  fire  which  destroyed  Sodom 
and  Gomorrah  was  not  eternal,  for  a  great  lake  of  water 
quickly  overflowed  and  now  covers  all  that  plain  where 
the  fire  was  kindled,  which  burnt  down  those  cities.  It  is 
manifest  also,  that,  the  day  of  resurrection  and  future  pun- 
ishment being  not  yet  come,  they  do  not,  at  this  time, 
suffer  the  vengeance  of  eternal  fire  in  their  bodies.  Nor 
can  this  verse,  I  think,  be  well  explained  to  make  Sodom 
and  Gomorrah  an  example  to  deter  present  sinners  from 
uncleanness,  but  by  allowing  that  the  spirits  of  those  lewd 
persons  are  now  suffering  a  degree  of  vengeance  or  pun- 
ishment from  the  justice  of  God,  which  is  compared  to 
that  fire  whereby  their  cities  and  their  bodies  were  burnt: 
and  which  vengeance,  at  the  last  great  day,  shall  continue 
their  punishment,  and  pronounce  it  eternal,  or  kindle  ma- 
terial fire  which  shall  never  be  quenched. 

The  last  text  I  shall  mention,  is  Rev.  vi.  9,  "  I  saw  un- 
der the  altar  the  souls  of  them  that  were  slain  for  the  word 
of-God,  and  for  the  testimony  which  they  held."  I  confess 
this  is  a  book  of  visions,  and  this  place,  amongst  others, 
might  be  explained  as  a  mere  vision  of  the  apostle,  if  there 
were  no  other  text  which  confirmed  the  doctrine  of  a  Sepa- 
rate State.  But  since  I  think  there  are  some  solid  proofs  of  it 
in  other  parts  of  the  New  Testament,  I  know  not  why 
this  may  not  be  explained,  at  least  something  nearer  to  the 
literal  sense  of  it.  than  those  will  allow,  who  suppose  the 
soul  to  sleep  from  death  to  the  resurrection.  Why  may 
not  the  spirits  of  the  martyrs,  which  are  now  with  God, 
pray  him  to  hasten  the  accomplishment  of  his  promises 
made  to  his  church,  and  the  day  of  vengeance  upon  his  ir- 
reconcileable  enemies  ? 

§  III.  Some  firmer  or  more  evident  proofs  of  a  Sepa- 
rate State. 

I  come  now  to  consider  those  texts  which  do  more  ex- 
pressly and  certainly  discover  the  Separate  State,  and 


A  SEPARATE  STATE.  347 

which,  I  think,  cannot,  with  any  tolerable  appearance  of 
reason,  be  turned  aside  from  their  plain  and  obvious  inten- 
tion, to  reveal  and  declare  that  there  is  a  Separate  State 
of  souls.  And  such,  in  my  opinion,  are  these  that  follow. 
I.  Text,  Matth.  x.  28,  '  Fear  not  them  which  kill  the 
body,  but  are  not  able  to  kill  the  soul  ;  but  rather  fear 
him  who  is  able  to  destroy  both  body  and  soul  in  hell.' 
Every  common  reader,  as  well  as  every  man  of  learning 
who  reads  this  text  with  a  sincere  mind  and  without  preju- 
dice, I  think,  will  acknowledge  at  least,  that  the  most  ob- 
vious and  easy  sense  of  the  words,  implies,  that  there  is  a 
soul  in  man  which  men  cannot  kill,  even  though  they  kill 
the  body. 

It  is  to  very  little  purpose  for  writers  to  say,  that  the 
Greek  word  4uPc»  which  we  translate  soul  here,  doth  in 
other  places  of  Scripture,  and  even  in  the  39th  verse  of ' 
this  very  chapter,  signiiy  life,  and  consequently  here  it 
may  also  signify  the  animal  life  or  person  of  the  man  ;  for 
it  is  manifest,  that  in  this  place  it  must  signify  some  im- 
mortal principle  in  man  that  cannot  die  ;  whereas  when 
the  body  is  killed,  the  animal  life  dies  too,  and  does  not 
exist  till  the  body  is  raised  again  :  but  the  soul  is  a  prin- 
ciple in  this  place  which  men  cannot  kill  even  though 
they  destroy  the  life  of  the  body :  and  whatsoever  other 
senses  tae  word  4V*»  may  obtain  in  other  texts,  that  cannot 
preclude  such  a  sense  of  it  in  this  text,  as  is  most  usual  in 
itself,  and  which  the  context  makes  necessary  in  this 
place. 

Nor  will  it  avail  the  supporters  of  the  mortality  of  the 
soul  to  say  that  this  scripture  means  only  that  <  men  can- 
not kill  the  soul  for  ever,'  so  that  it  shall  for  ever  perish 
and  have  no  future  life  hereafter  by  a  resurrection  :  for  in 
this  sense  men  cannot  'kill  the  body,'  so  that  it  shall 
never  revive  or  rise  again :  but  here  is  a  plain  distinction 
in  the  text,  that  the  body  may  be  killed,  but  the  soul  can- 
not. 

And  I  think  this  Scripture  proves  also,  that  though  the 
body  may  be  laid  to  sleep  in  the  grave,  yet  the  soul  can- 
not be  laid  to  sleep  ;  for  the  substance  of  the  body  still 
exists,  and  is  not  utterly  destroyed  by  killing  it,  but  only 
'laid  to  sleep'  for  a  time,  as  the  Scripture  often  describes 
death  :  but  the  soul  cannot  be  thus  laid  to  sleep  for  a 
time,  with  its  substance  still  existing,  for  that  would  be  to 


348  ESSAY  TOWARDS  TPE  PROOF  OF 

have  no  pre-eminence  above  the  body,  which  is  contrary 
to  this  assertion  of  our  Saviour. 

II.  Luke  xvi.  22,  &c.  "  The  beggar  died  and  was  car- 
ried by  angels  into  Abraham's  bosom.  The  rich  man 
also  died  and  was  buried,  and  in  hell  he  lifted  up  his 
eyes,  being  in  torments,  and  said,  Father  Abraham,  have 
mercy  on  me,  &c.  and  send  Lazarus,  ver.  27,  to  my  father's 
house  that  he  may  testify  to  my  brethren,  lest  they  come 
also  into  this  place  of  torment."  I  grant  that  this  ac- 
count of  the  rich  man  and  the  beggar  is  but  a  parable,  and 
yet  it  may  prove  the  existence  of  the  rich  man's  soul 
in  a  place  of  torment  before  the  resurrection  of  the  body  ; 
1.  Because  the  existence  of'  souls  in  a  Separate  State, 
whilst  other  men  dwell  here  on  earth,  is  the  very  founda- 
tion ol  the  whole  parable,  and  runs  through  the  whole  of 
it.  The  poor  man  died  and  his  soul  was  in  paradise.  The 
rich  man's  dead  body  was  buried  and  his  soul  was  in  hell, 
while  his  five  brethren  were  here  on  earth  in  a  state  of 
probation,  and  would  not  hearken  to  'Moses  and  the 
prophets.' 

2.  Because  the  very  design  of  the  parable  is  to  shew, 
that  a  ghost  sent  from  the  other  world,  whether  heaven 
or  hell;  to  wicked  men  who  are  here  in  a  state  of  trial, 
will  not.  be  sufficient  to  convert  them  to  holiness,  if  they 
reject  the  means  of  grace  and  the  ministers  of  th3  word. 
The  very  design  of  our  Saviour  seems. to  be  lost,  if  there 
be  no  souls  existing  in  a  Separate  State.     A  ghost  sent 
from  the  other  world  could  never  be  supposed  to  have 
any  influence  to  convert  sinners  in  this  world,  even  in  a 
parable,  if  there  were  no  such  things  as  ghosts  there.    The 
rich  man's  five  brethren  could  have  no  motive  to  hearken 
to  a  ghost  pretending  to  come  from  heaven  or  hell,  if 
there  were  no  such  thing  as  ghosts  or  separate  souls  ei- 
ther happy  or  miserable.     Now  surely,  if  parables  can 
prove  any  thing  at  all,  they  must  prove  those  proposi- 
tions which  are  both  the  foundation  and  the  design  of 
the  whole  parable. 

3.  I  might  add  yet  further,  that  it  is  very  strange  that 
our  Saviour  should  so  particularly   spealc  of  angels  car- 
rying the  soul  of  a  man,  whose  body  was  just  dead,  into 
heaven  or  paradise,  which  he  calls  'Abraham's  bosom,' 
if  there  wpre  no   such   state  or  place  as  a  heaven  for 
separate  souls;  if  Abraham's  soul  had  no  residence  there, 


A  SEPARATE  STATE.  349 

no  existence  in  that  state  ;  if  angels  had  never  any  thing 
to  do  in  such  an  off.ce.  What  would  the  Jews  have  said  or 
thought  of  a  prophet  come  from  God,  who  had  taught  his 
doctrines  to  the  people  in  such  parables  as  had  scarce 
any  sort  of  foundation  in  the  reality  or  nature  of  things. 

But  you  will  say  the  Jews  had  such  an  opinion  current 
among  them,  though  it  was  a  very  false  one,  and  that  this 
was  enough  to  support  a  parable.  I  answer,  what  could 
Christ  (who  is  truth  itself)  have  said  more  or  plainer  to 
confirm  the  Jews  in  this  gross  error  of  a  Separate  State 
of  souls,  than  to  form  a  parable  which  supposes  this  doc- 
trine in  the  very  design  and  moral  of  it,  as  well  as  in  the 
foundation  and  matter  of  it  ? 

III.  Luke  xx.  37,  38,  "  Now  that  the  dead  are  raised 
even  Moses  shewed  at  the  bush,  when  he  calleth  the  Lord 
the  God  of  Abraham,  the  God  of  Isaac,  and  the  God  of 
Jacob  ;  for  he  is  not  a  God  of  the  dead  but  of  the  living; 
for  all  live  unto  him."  Some  learned  men  suppose  that 
the  controversy  between  Christ  and  the  Sadducees  in  this 
place  was  about  the  anastasis,  which  implies  (he  whole 
state  of  existence  after  death,  including  both  the  Separate 
State  and  the  resurrection,  because  the  Sadducees  denied 
both  these  at  once,  and  believed  that  death  finished  the 
whole  existence  of  the  man.  "  They  denied  angels  and 
spirits,"  Acts  xxiii.  8,  i.  e.  separate  souls  of  men,  and 
thought  the  rewards  and  punishments  mentioned  in  Scrip- 
ture related  only  to  this  life.  .Upon  this  account  they 
suppose  our  Saviour's  design  is  to  prove  the  existence  of 
persons  or  spirits  in  the  Separate  State  as  much  as  the 
resurrection  of  the  body. 

And  when  he  says,  that  the  Lord  or  Jehovah  is  de- 
scribed as  the  'God  of  Abraham,'  &c.  it  supposes  Abra- 
ham at  the  same  time  to  have  actually  some  life  and  exis- 
tence in  some  state  or  other,  for  "God  is  not  a  God  of 
the  dead  'but  of  the  living,"  for  ,all  that  are  dead  and 
gone  out  of  this  world  still  live  unto  God,  i.  e.  they 
have  a  present  life  in  the  invisible  world  of  spirits  as 
God  is  an  invisible  Spirit,  as  well  as  they  expect  a  re- 
surrection of  their  body  in  due  time. 

How  could  God  in  the  days  of  Moses  be  called  ac- 
tually   "the  God  of  Abraham,   Isaac  and  Jacob,"    who 
were  long  since  dead,    if. there  was  no  sense  in  which 
they  were  now  alive  to  God,  since  our  Saviour  declares 
2E 


350  ESSAY  TOWARDS  THE  PROOF  OF 

God  is  properly  "the  God  only  of  the  living,  and  not 
of  the  dead  ?"  This  part  of  the  argument  holds  good  in 
whatsoever  sense  you  construe  the  whole  debate,  and  hy 
whatsoever  medium  or  connection  you  prove  the  doctrine 
of  the  resurrection  of  the  body  ;  and  this  is  obvious  to 
the  honest  and  unlearned  reader,  as  well  as  to  the  men  of 
learning. 

IV.  Luke  xxiii.  42,43,  "And  he  (that  is,  the  penitent 
thief  upon  the  cross)  said  unto  Jesus,  Lord,  remember  me 
when  thou  comest  into  thy  kingdom :  and  Jesus  said  unto 
him,  Verily  I  say  unto  thee,  to-day  shalt  thou  be  with 
me  in  paradise."  The  thief  upon  the  cross  believed  that 
Christ  would  enter  into  paradise  which  he  supposed  to  be 
Christ's  kingdom,  when  he  departed  from  'this'  world' 
which  was  '  not  his  kingdom  ;'  and  this  he  believed  partly 
according  to  the  common  sentiment  of  the  Jews  concern- 
ing good  men  at  their  death,  as  well  as  it  is  agreeable 
to  our  Saviour's  own  expressions  to  God,  John  xvii.  11, 
"Holy  Father,  lam  no  more  in  the  world  and  1  am  come 
unto  thee  :"  or  as  he  had  said  1o  his  disciples,  John  xvi. 
28,  "I  leave  the  world  and  go  to  the  Father." 

And  according  to  these  expressions,  Luke,  xxiii.  46, 
Christ  dies  with  these  words  on  his  lips,  "Father  into  thy 
hands  I  commend  my  spirit."  Our  Saviour  taking  notice 
of  the  'repentance  of  the  thief,  acknowledging  his  own 
guilt,  thus,  "we  are  justly  under  this  condemnation  and 
receive  the  due  reward  of  our  deeds  ;"  and  taking  notice 
also  of  his  faith  in  the  Messiah,  as  a  king  whose  "king- 
dom was  not  of  this  world,"  when  Tie  prayed,  "Lord, 
remember  me  when  thou  comest  into  thy  kingdom  :" 
Christ,  I  say,  taking  notice  of  both  these,  answers  him 
with  a  promise  of  much  grace,  "Verily,  I  say  unto  thee, 
to-day  shalt  thou  be  with  me  in  paradise," 

The  use  of  the  word  paradise  in  Scripture,  and  among 
ancient  writers  Jewish  and  Christian,  is  to  signify  the 
'  happiness  of  holy  souls  in  a  Separate  State ;'  and  our 
Saviour  entering  into  that  state  at  his  death  declared  to 
the  dying  penitent,  that  he  should  be  with  him  there 
immediately.  It  is  certain  that  by  the  word  paradise  St. 
Paul  means  the  place  of  happy  spirits,  into  which  h>'  was 
transported,  2  Cor.  xii.  4.  And  this  sense  is  very  ac- 
commodate and  proper  to  this  expression  of  our  Saviour 
and  to  the  prayer  of  the  penitent  thief,  and  it  is  as 


A  SEPARATE  STATE.  351 

suitable  to  the  design  of  Christ  in  his  epistle  to  the  church 
of  Ephesus,  Rev.  ii.  7,  "  the  tree  of  life  in  the  midst  of 
the  paradise  of  God,"  which  are  the  only  three  places 
where  the  New  Testament  uses  this  word. 

I  know  there  have  been  great  pains  taken  to  shew 
that  the  stops  should  be  altered,  and  the  comma  should 
be  placed  after  the  word  to-day,  thus  'I  say  unto  thee 
to-day,  thou  shalt  be  with  me  in  paradise,'  i.  e.  some 
time  or  other  hereafter.  As  though  Christ  meant  no  more 
than  this,  viz.  '  Thou  askest  me  to  remember  thee  when 
I  come  into  my  kingdom  :  and  I  declare  unto  thee  truly 
this  very  day,  that  some  long  time  hereafter  thou  shalt 
be  with  me  in  happiness  at  thy  resurrection,  when  my 
kingdom  shall  be  just  at  an  end  and  I  shall  give  it  all  up 
to  the  Father,'  as  in  1  Cor.  xv.  24.  Can  any  one  imagine 
this  to  be  the  meaning  of  our  blessed  Saviour  in  answer 
to  this  prayer  of  the  dying  penitent?  I  know  also  there 
are  other  laborious  criticisms  to  represent  these  words 
(to-day)  in  other  places  of  Scripture  as  referring  to  some 
distant  time,  and  not  to  mean  that  very  day  of  twenty- 
four  hours  :  but  rather  than  enter  into  a  long  and  critical 
debate  upon  all  these  texts,  I  will  venture  to  trust  the 
sense  of  it  in  this  place  with  any  sincere  and  unlearn- 
ed reader. 

But  if  we  consult  the  learned  Dr.  Whitby,  he  will  tell 
us,  that  it  was  a  familiar  phrase  of  the  Jews  to  say,  on  a 
just  man's  dying,  'to  day  shall  he  sit  in  the  bosom  of 
Abraham  :'  and  it  was  their  opinion,  that  the  '  souls  of 
the  righteous  who  were  very  eminent  in  piety,  were  car- 
ried immediately  into  paradise.'  The  Chaldee  paraphrase 
on  Solomon's  Song,  iv.  12,  takes  some  notice  of  the  'souls 
of  the  just,  who  are  carried  into  paradise  by  the  hands 
of  angels.'  Grotius,  in  his  notes  on  Luke  xxiii.  43,  men- 
tions the  hearty  and  serious  wish  of  the  Jews  concerning 
their  friends  who  are  dead,  in  the  language  of  the  Tal- 
mudical  writers,  '  let  his  soul  be  gathered  to  the  garden 
of  Eden  :'  and,  hr  their  solemn  prayers  when  one  dies, 
1  let  him  have  his  portion  in  paradise,  and  also  in  the  world 
to  come,'  by  which  they  mean  the  state  of  the  resurrec- 
tion,, and  plainly  distinguish  it  from  this  immediate  en- 
trance into  Eden  or  paradise  at  the  hour  of  death.  The 
Jews  suppose  Enoch  to  be  carried  to  paradise  even  in  his 
body  ;  and  that  the  souls  of  good  men  have  no  interrup- 


352  ESSAY  TOWARDS  THE  PROOF  OF 

tion  of  life,  but  that  there  was  a  'reward  for  blameless 
souls,'  as  the  book  of  Wisdom  speaks,  chap.  ii.  22,  «  For 
God  created  man  to  be  immortal,  and  to  be  an  image  of 
his  own  eternity,"  wh:»ch  seems  to  suppose  '  blameless 
souls'  entering  into  this  reward  without  interruption  of 
their  life.  And,  if  this  be  the  meaning  of  paradise  among 
the  Jews,  doubtless  our  Saviour  spake  the  words  in  such 
a  known  and  common  sense,  in  'which  the  penitent  thief 
would  easily  and  presently  understand  him,  it  being  a 
promise  of  grace  in  his  dying  hour,  wherein  he  had  no 
long  time  to  study  hard  for  the  sense  of  it,  or  consult  the 
critics  in  order  to  find  the  meaning. 

We  come  now  to  consider  the  writings  of  St.  Paul :  and 
it  is  certain,  that  the  most  natural  and  obvious  sense  of  his 
words  in  many  places  of  his  epistles,  refer  to  a  Separate 
State  of  the  souls  after  death.  For,  as  he  was  a  Pharisee 
in  his  sentiments  of  religion,  so  he  seems  to  be  something 
of  a  Platonist  in  philosophy,  so  far  as  Christianity  admit- 
ted'the  same  principles.*  Why  then  should  it  not  be  rea- 
sonably supposed,  wheresoever  he  speaks  of  this  subject, 
and  speaks  in  their  language  too,  that  he  means  the  same 
thing  which  the  Pharisees  and  Platonists  believed,  that  is, 
the  immortality  and  life  of  the  soul  in  a  Separate  State. 
But  I  proceed  tcr  the  particular  texts. 

V.  2  Cor.  v.  6,  8,  "  Therefore  we  are  always  confident, 
(or  of  good  courage,)  knowing,  that  whilst  we  are  at  home  in 
the  body  we  are  absent  from  the*  Lord  :  we  are  confident, 
I  say,  and  willing  rather  to  be  absent  from  the  body,  and 
to  be  present  with  the  Lord."  The  apostle  ver.  4,  seems 
to  wish  that  he  might  be  clothed  upon  at  once  with  immor- 
tality in  soul  and  body,  without  dying  or  being  unclothed  : 
but  since  things  are  otherwise  determined,  then,  in  the 
next  place,  he  would  rather  choose  'absence  from  the  bo- 
dy,' that  he  might  be  '  present  with  the  Lord.'  These 
words  seem  to  be  so  plain,  so  express,  and  so  unanswerable 
a  proof  of  the  spirits  of  good  men  existing  in  a  Separate 
State,  and  being  '  present  with  the  Lord,  when  they  are 
'  absent  from  the  body*  at  death,  that  I  could  never  meet 
but  with  two  ways  of  evading  it. 

*  As  Paul  wrote  by  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  I  must  protest  against 
a  practice  becoming  more  and  more  prcvajent,  of  imputing  human  theories, 
be  it  Platonism,  or  any  other  ism,  to  him,  or  to  any  other  of  the  inspired  wri- 
ters.— ED. 


A  SEPARATE  STATE.  353 

The  first  is  what  a  gentleman  many  years  ago,  who  pro- 
fessed Christianity,  acknowledged  to  me,  viz.  that  he  be- 
lieved St.  Paul  did  mean,  in  this  place,  the  same  sense  in 
which  I  have  explained  him;  but  he  thought  St.  Paul  might 
be  mistaken  in  his  opinion,  for  he  was  not  of  the  apostle's 
mind  in  this  point.  I  think  I  need  not  tarry  to  refute  this 
answer:  but  I  may  make  this  remark  upon  it,  viz.  that  the 
sense  of  St.  Paul  concerning  the  Separate  State  was  so  ev- 
ident, in  this  place,  that  this  man  had  rather  differ  from 
the  apostle  than  deny  this  to  be  his  meaning.  All  his  pre- 
judices against  this  doctrine  could  not  hinder  him  from 
acknowledging  that  the  apostle  believed  and  taught  it 

The  second  way  of  evading  it  is,  that  this  text,  with  one 
or  two  others  of  like  kind,  do  indeed  speak  of  the  happi- 
ness of  souls  in  a  Separate  State,  but  it  doth  refer  only  to 
the  apostles  themselves,  who  had  this  peculiar  favour  and 
privilege  granted  them  by  Christ,  to  follow  him  to  para- 
dise and  enjoy  his  presence  there,  while  the  souls  of  other 
Christians  were  asleep,  unconscious  and  unaqtive  till  the 
resurrection. 

Answer  1.  It  is  granted  indeed,  that  several  verses  of 
this  chapter,  as  well  as  in  the  former,  have  a  peculiar  ref- 
erence to  the  ministers  of  Christ,  and  perhaps  to  the  apos- 
tles who  were  his  ambassadors;  but  there  are  many  things 
in  both  these  chapters  that  are  perfectly  applicable  to  every 
Christian,  and  the  versesjust  before  and  just  afterthis  eighth 
verse,  may  belong  to  all  good  men  as  well  as  to  the  apos- 
tles or  ministers.  "  He  that  hath  wrought  us  for  the  self- 
same thing,"  i.  e.  for  the  happiness  of  the  future  state, 
"  is  God,  who  hath  also  given  unto  us  the  earnest  of  the 
Spirit,"  at  least  as  an  enlightencr  and  sanctifier,  if  not  as 
the  author  of  special  gifts,  for,  Rom.  viii.  9,  "  If  any  man 
hath  not  the  spirit  of  Christ,  he  is  none  of  his."  And 
ver.  6.  "  therefore  we  are  .always  confident,"  or  of  good 
courage,  "  knowing  that  whilst  we  are  at  home  in  the  bo- 
dy we  are  absent  from  the  Lord,  for  we  walk  by  faith  not 
by  sight."  This  is  or  should  be  the  character  of  every 
Christian.  And  the  9th  verse  that  follows  it,  belongs  to 
all  the  saints.  "  Wherefore  we  labour  that  whether  pres- 
ent or  absent  we  may  be  accepted  of  him  ;  for  we  must 
all  appear  before  the  judgment-seat  of  Christ,  that  every 
one  may  receive  the  things  done  in  his  body  according  to 
that  he  hath  done,  whether  it  be  good,  or  bad."  Now  why 
45  2E2 


354  AN  ESSAT  TOWARDS  THE  PROOF  OF 

should  we  suppose  that  St.  Paul  excludes  all  other  Chris- 
tians besides  himself  and  his  brethren  the  apostles  from  the 
blessing  of  the  8th  verse,  viz.  that  when  they  are  "  absent 
from  the  body  'they'  shall  be  present  with  the  Lord," 
since  the  verses  all  round  it  are  applicable  to  all  Christians? 
Answer  2.  These  chapters  were  written  with  a  design  not 
only  to  vindicate  and  encourage  the  apostle  himself  under 
the  sufferings  and  reproaches  which  he  met  with,  but  doubtless 
to  give  encouragementtothe  Corinthians,  and  all  Christians 
'under  any  sufferings  or  reproaches  they  might  meet  with  in  the 
world;  that  (as  he  expresses  it  a  little  before)  they  might 
learn  "to  walk  by  faith  and  to  look  at  the  things  which 
are  unseen,  which  are  eternal."'    And  indeed  if  this  pe- 
culiar blessing  of  the  happiness  of  a  Separate  State  belongs 
only  to  the  apostles,  how  much  are  the  comforts  of  the 
New  Testament  narrowed  and   diminished,  and  the  faith 
and  hope  of  common  Christians  discouraged  and  enerva- 
ted, and  their  motives  to  holiness  weakened,   when  they 
are  told,  that  they  have   nothing  to  do  to  lay  hold   up- 
on such  promised  favours,  such   revelations  of  grace,  be- 
cause they  belong  only  to  the  apostles  and  not  to  them. 

And  indeed  how  shall  common  Christians  ever  know 
what  part  of  the  epistles  they  may  apply  to  themselves  for 
their  direction  and  consolation,  if  they  may  not  hope  in 
such  words  of  grace,  where  the  holy  writers  use  the  word 
'  we,'  and  do  not  plainly  intimate  that  they  belong  to 
preachers  or  apostles  only  ? 

Answer  3.  When  our  Saviour  prays  for  himself  and 
his  apostles  in  the  beginning  of  the  xviith  of  St.  John,  he 
comes  in  the  20th  verse  to  extend  the  blessings  he  had 
prayed  for  to  all  believers.  Ver.  20.  "Neither  pray  I  for 
these  alone,  but  for  them  also  which  shall  believe,  on  me 
through  their  word ;  that  they  all  may  be  one,  as  thou, 
Father,  art  in  me,  and  I  in  thee,  that  they  may  be  one  in 
us;  that  the  world  may  believe  that  thou  hast  sent  me." 
Ver.  24.  "Father,  I  will  that  they  also  whom  thou  hast 
given  me  may  be  with  me  where  I  am,  that  they  may  be- 
hold my  glory  which  thou  hast  given  me."  Here  it  is 
evident  that  our  Saviour  prays  that  those  that  shall  believe 
on  him  through  the  word  of  the  Apostles  may  be  present 
with  him  in  his  kingdom  to  behold  his  glory  ;  and  is  not 
that  a  very  considerable  part  of  his  glory,  which  the  Father 
hath  conferred  upon  him  to  be  Lord  and  King  and  head 


A  SEPARATE  STATE.  355 

of  his  church  ?  But  this  peculiar  glory  reaches  no  further 
than  the  resurrection  and  judgment,  and  cannot  be  seen  af- 
terwards; for  in  1  Cor.  xv.  24,  "then  cometh  the  end,  and 
Christ  shall  deliver  up  the  kingdom  to  God  the  Father;  the 
Son  himself  also  shall  be  subject  unto  the  Father,  that  God 
may  be  all  in  all,"  ver.  28. 

As  for  that  final  blaze  of  supreme  glory  wherein  Christ 
shall  appear  at  the  day  of  judgment  just  before  he  resigns 
up  his  kingdom,  and  which  perhaps  is  once  called  'his 
kingdom/  2  Tim.  iv.  1  ;  "  when  he  shall  come  in  the  glory 
of  his  Father  and  of  his  holy  angels  as  well  as  his  own," 
Mark  viii.  38,  the  sight  of  it  shall  be  public  and  common 
to  all  the  world,  and  not  any  peculiar  favour  to  the  saints. 

It  seems  therefore  most  probable  that  it  is  only  or  chiefly 
in  the  Separate  State  of  souls  departed,  that  the  saints  have 
a  special  promise  of'  beholding  this  mediatorial  glory  of 
Christ  in  his  kingdom  ;  and  this  favour  our  Saviour  entreats 
of  his  Father  for  others  that  shall  believe  on  him,  as  well 
as  for  his  Apostles. 

I  might  here  take  occasion  to  enquire  whether  every 
text  which  promises  to  other  Christians  as  well  as  to  the 
Apostles,  a  dwelling  with  Christ  'in  his  kingdom,'  must 
not  have  a  more  special  reference  to  the  glory  of  the  Sep- 
arate State  ;  upon  this  very  account,  because  this  king- 
dom' of  Christ  ceases  at  the  resurrection  and  judgment ; 
and  particularly  that  text  in  2  Pet.  i.  11,  "  so  an  entrance 
shall  be  ministered  unto  you  abundantly  into  the  everlas- 
ting kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  Savidur  Jesus  Christ  :" 
which  is  often  in  Scripture  called  everlasting  because  it  con- 
tinues to  the  end  of  the  world;  and  the  'abundant  entrance 
into  it'  very  naturally  refers  to  our  departure  from  this  life. 

•Answer  4.  I  cannot  find  any  text  of  Scripture  where 
this  blessing  of  being  'present  with  the  Lord'  after  death 
in  the  Separate  State  is  limited  only  to  the  Apostles.  I 
read  not  one  word  of  such  a  peculiar  favour  promised  them 
by  Christ;  and  therefore  according  to  the  current  course  of 
several  other  places  of  Scripture  which  have  been  here 
produced,  I  am  persuaded  it  belongs  to  all  true  Christ  ians,un- 
less  the  Apostle  in  some  plainer  manner  had  limited  it  to 
himself  and  his  twelve  brethren,  and  secluded  or  forbid  our 
hopes  of  it 

*  I.  e.  his  mediatorial  kingdom. — ED. 


After  all,  if  it  be  allowed  that  the  Apostles  may  enjoy 
the  blessedness  of  a  Separate  State  before  the  resurrection, 
then  there  is  such  a  thing  as  a <  Separate  State  of  happi- 
ness for  souls.'  This  precludes  at  once  all  the  arguments 
against  it  that  arise  from  the  nature  of  things,  and  from  any 
supposed  impropriety  in  such  a  divine  constitution  ;  and 
since  it  is  granted  that  there  are  millions  of  angels  and 
several  human  spirits  in  this  unbodied  state,  enjoying  hap- 
piness, I  see  no  reason  why  the  rest  of  the  unbodied  spirits 
of  saints  departed  should  not  be  received  to  their  society 
after  death,  unless  there  were  some  particular  Scriptures 
that  excluded  them  from  it. 

VI.  Phil.  i.  23,  24,  «  For  I  am  in  a  strait  betwixt  two, 
having  a  desire  to  depart,  and  to  be  with  Christ  ;  which 
is  far  better  :  nevertheless,  to  abide  in  the  flesh  is  more 
needful  for  you."  When  the  apostle  speaks  here  of  his 
"  abiding  in  the  flesh,"  and  his  "  departing  from  the  flesh," 
he  declares  the  first  was  the  more  needful  for  the  Philippi- 
ans,  to  promote  religion  in  their  hearts  and  lives  ;  but  the 
second  would  be  better  for  himself,  for  he  should  be  with 
Christ,  when  he  was  departed  from  the  flesh. 

I  would  only  ask  any  reasonable  man  to  .determine 
whether,  when  St.  Paul  speaks  of  his  "  being  with  Christ" 
after  his  departure  from  the  flesh,  he  can  suppose  that  the 
Apostle  did  not  expect  to  see  Christ  till  the  resurrection, 
which  he  knew  would  be  a  considerable  distance  of  time, 
though  perhaps  it  has  proved  many  hundred  years  longer 
than  the  Apostle  himself  expected  it  ?  'No ;  it  is  evident 
he  hoped  to  '  be  present  with  the  Lord'  immediately  as 
soon  as  he  was  '  absent  from  the  body  ;'  otherwise,  as  I 
have  hinted  before,  death  to  him  would  have  been  but  of 
little  gain  if  he  must  have  lain  sleeping  till  the  dead  shall 
rise,  and  have  been  cut  off  from  his  delightful  service  for 
Christ  in  the  gospel  and  all  the  blessed  communications  of 
his  grace.  The  objection  which  may  arise  here  also  from 
supposing  this  to  be  a  peculiar  favour  granted  to  the  Apos- 
tles is  answered  just  before. 

VII.  Heb.  xii.  23,  "Ye  are  come  to  the  heavenly  Jeru- 
salem, to  an  innumerable  company  of  angels,  to  the  gener- 
al assembly  and  church  of  the  first-born  which  are  written 
('or  registered')  in  heaven,  to  God  the  Judge  of  all,  and 
to  the  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect,  and  to  Jesus  the 
Mediator  of  the  New  covenant,"  i,  e.  The  gospel  or  the 


A  SEPARATE  STATE.  357 

Christian  state  brings  good  men  into  a  nearer  union  and 
communion  with  the  heavenly  world,  and  the  inhabitants 
thereof,  than  the  -  Jewish  state  could  do :  now  the  inhabi- 
tants of  this  upper  world,  this  heavenly  Jerusalem,  are 
here  reckoned  up,  God  as  the  prime  Lord  or  Head  ;  Jesus 
the  Mediator  as  the  King  of  his  church;  'the  innumera- 
ble company  of  angels'  as  ministers  of  his  kingdom  ;  'the 
general  assembly'  of  God's  favourites  or  children  who  are 
called  the  first-born  ;  perhaps  this  may  refer  in  general  to 
all  the  saints  of  all  ages  past  and  to  come  whose  names  are 
written  in  the  book  of  life  in  heaven  ;  and  particularly  to 
the  '  separate  spirits  of  just  men'  who  are  departed  from 
this  world,  and  are  made  perfect  in  the  heavenly  state. 
The  criticisms  that  are  used  to  put  other  senses  upon  these 
words  seem  to  carry  them  away  so  far  from  their  more 
plain  and  obvious  meaning,  that  I  can  hardly  think  they 
are  the  meaning  of  the  Apostle  ;  for  it  would  be  of  very 
little  use  for  a  common  Christian  to  read  these  verses  of  di- 
vine consolation  and  grace,  if  he  could  take  no  comfort 
from  them  until  he  had  learnt  those  critical  and  distant  ex- 
positions of  such  plain  language. 

It  has  been  indeed  objected  against  the  plain  sense  of 
this  text,  that  the  '  spirits  of  the  just'  or  good  men  are  not 
yet  made  perfect  in  heaven,  because  the  same  Apostle, 
Heb.  xi.  39,  40,  says,  "  These  all,  (i.  e.  the  saints  of  the 
Old  Testament,)  having  obtained  a  good  report  through 
faith,  received  not  the  promises,  God  having  provided 
some  better  thing  for  us,  that  they  without  us  should  not 
be  made  perfect,"  Now  these  had  been  dead  for  many 
generations,  yet  they  received  not  the  promises  nor  were 
made  perfect.  Thus  saith  the  objection. 

But  the  evident  meaning  of  this  text  is,  that  they  lived 
and  died  in  the  faith  of  many  promises,  some  of  which 
were  to  be  fulfilled  after  their  days  here  on  earth,  but 
were  not  fulfilled  in  their  life-time  :  they  did  not  enjoy 
the  privileges  and  the  blessings  of  the  gospel  of  the  Mes- 
siah in  that  perfect  manner  in  which  we  do  since  the  Mes- 
siah is  actually  come  and  has  fulfilled  these  promises,  and 
by  his  death,  '  or  offering  himself,'  as  the  same  apostle 
expresses  it,  "  for  ever  perfected  them  that  are  sanctified," 
Heb.  x.  14.  But  all  this  does  by  no  means  preclude  their 
existence  and  happiness  in  a  Separate  State  as  'spirits 
made  perfect/  i.  e.  in  a  perfect  freedom  from  all  sin  and 


338  ESSAY  TOWARDS  THE  PROOF  OF 

sorrow  ;  though  it  is  probable  this  very  state  of  compara- 
tive perfection  might  have  several  degrees  of  joy  added  to 
it  at  the  ascension  of  Christ,  and  will  have  many  more  at 
the  resurrection  from  the  dead.  • 

VIII.  2  Pet.  i.  13,  "I  think  it  meet,  as  long  as  I  am  in 
this  tabernacle,  to  stir  you  up,  by  putting  you  in  remem- 
brance ;  knowing  that  shortly  I  must  put  off  this  my  ta- 
bernacle." Here  it  is  evident  that  the  person  who  'thinks 
it  meet  to  stir  up'  Christians  to  their  duty,  has  a  tabernacle 
belonging  to  him,  and  which  he  must  '  shortly  put  off. ' 
The  soul  or  thinking  principle  of  the  Apostle  Peter, 
which  is  here  supposed  to  be  himself,  is  so  plainly  distin- 
guished from  the  tabernacle  of  the  body  in  which  he  dwelt 
for  a  season,  and  which  he  '  must  put  off  shortly,'  that  it 
most  evidently  implies  an  existence  of  this  thinking  soul 
very  distinct  from  the  body,  and  which  will  exist  when 
the  body  is  laid  aside.  Surely  the  conscious  being  and  its 
tabernacle  or  dwelling  place  are  two  very  distinct  things, 
and  the  conscious  being  exists  when  he  puts  off  his  present 
dwelling. 

After  all  these  arguments  from  Scripture,  may  I  be  per- 
mitted to  mention  one  which  is  derived  partly  from  reason 
and  partly  from  the  sacred  records,  which  seems  to  carry 
some  weight  with  it. 

The  doctrine  of  rewards  and  punishments  in  a  Separate 
State  of  souls  hath  been  one  of  the  very  chief  principles 
or  motives  whereby  virtue  .  and  religion  have  been  main- 
tained in  this  sinful  world  throughout  all  former  ages  and 
nations,  and  under  the  several  dispensations  of  God  among 
men,  until  the  resurrection  of  the  body  was  fully  revealed. 
Now,  it  is  scarce  to  be  supposed  that  such  a  doctrine,  which 
God,  in  the  course  of  his  providence,  hath  made  use  of  as 
a  chief  principle  and  motive  of  religion  and  virtue,  through 
all  the  world  which  had  any  true  virtue,  and  in  all  ages 
before  Christianity,  should  be  a  false  doctrine.  Let  us 
prove  the  first  proposition  by  a  view  of -the  several  ages 
of  mankind  and  dispensations  of  religion. 

The  Heathens,  who  have  had  nothing  else  but  the  light 
of  nature  to  guide  them,  could  have  no  notion  at  all  of 
the  resurrection  of  the  body  ;  and  therefore,  not  only  the 
wisest  and  best  of  them,  but  perhaps  the  bulk  of  mankind 
among  the  Gentiles,  at  least  in  Europe  and  Asia,  if  not  in 
Africa  and  America  also,  who  have  been  taught  by  priests, 


A  SEPARATE  STATE.  359 

and  poets,  and  the  public  opinions  of  their  nation,  and 
traditions  of  their  ancestors,  have  generally  supposed  such 
a  Separate  State  after  this  life,  wherein  their  souls  should 
be  rewarded  or  punished,  except  where  the  fancy  of  trans- 
migration prevailed  ;  and  even  these  very  transmigrations 
into  other  bodies,  viz.  of  dogs,  or  horses,  or  men,  were 
assigned  as  speedy  rewards  or  punishments  of  their  be- 
haviour in  this  life. 

Now,  though  this  doctrine  of  immediate  recompences 
could  not  be  proved  by  them  wirli  certainty  and  clearness, 
and  had  many  follies  mingled  with  it,  yet  the  probable 
expectation  of  it,  so  far  as  it  hath  obtained  among  men, 
hath  had  a  good  degree  of  influence  through  the  conduct 
of  common  providence,  to  keep  the  world  in  some  toler- 
able order,  and 'prevent  universal  irregularities  and  exces- 
ses of  the  highest  degree';  it  hath  had  some  force  on  the 
conscience  to  restrain  the  enormous  wickedness  of  men. 

The  'patriarchs  of  the  first  ages,'  whose  history  is  relat- 
ed in  Scripture,  had  no  notion  of  the  resurrection  of  the 
body  expressly  revealed  to  them  that  we  can  find  ;  and  it 
must  be  the  hope  of  such  a  state  of  recompence  of  their 
souls  after  death,  that  influenced  their  practice  of  piety,  if 
they  were  not  informed  that  their  bodies  should  rise  again, 
Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob,  had  no  plain  and  distinct 
promise  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body  ;  yet  it  is  said, 
Heb.  xi.  14,  "They  received  the  promises,"  that  is,  of 
some  future  happiness,  "and  embraced  them,  and  confes- 
sed they  were  strangers  and  pilgrims  on  earth,  whereby 
they  plainly  declared,  that  they  sought  some  other  country, 
i.  e.  an  heavenly,  and  God  hath  prepared  a  city  for  them." 
What  city,  what  heavenly  country  can  this  be,  which 
they  themselves  sought  after,  but  the  city  or  country  of 
Separate  Souls  or  paradise,  where  good  men  are  rewarded, 
and  'God  is  their  God,'  if  they  had  no  plain  promises  or 
views  of  a  resurrection  of  the  body  ?  And  indeed  they 
had  need  of  a  very  plain  and  express  promise  of  such  a 
resurrection,  to  encourage  their  faith  and  obedience,  if  they 
had  no  notion  or  belief  of  a  Separate  State,  or  a  '  heavenly 
country,'  whither  their  souls  should  go  at  their  death.* 
Job  seems  to  have  some  bright  glimpses  of  resurrection 

•  Enoch  prophesied  of  the  day  of  judgment,  Jude  14,  15,  and  Abraham 
knew  that  God  could  raise  the  dead,  Heb.  xi.  1 9.  Moderns  are  apt  to  form 
mistaken  notions  concerning  the  knowledge  of  the  ancients. — ED. 


360  ESSAY  TOWARPS  THE  PROOF  OF 

in  chap,  xixth,  but  this  was  far  above  the  level  of  the 
dispensation  wherein  he  lived,  and  a  peculiar,  and  dis- 
tinguishing favour  granted  to  him  under  his  uncommon 
and  peculiar  sufferings. 

In  the  institution  of  the  Jewish  religion  by  Moses, 
there  is  no  express  mention  of  a  resurrection,  and  we  must 
suppose  their  hope,  of  a  future  state  was  chiefly  such  as 
they  could  gain  from  the  light  of  nature,  and  learn  by 
traditions  from  their  fathers,  or  from  unwritten  instruc- 
tions. For,  though  our  Saviour  improves  the  words  of  God 
to  Moses  in  the  bush,  "  I  am  the  God  of  Abraham,"  &c. 
so  far  as  to  prove  a  resurrection  from  them,  yet  we  can 
hardly  suppose  the  Israelites  could  carry  it  any  further, 
than  merely  to  the  happiness  of  Abraham's  soul,  &c.  in 
some  Separate  State  ;  ;.nd  thence  came  the  notion  of  de- 
parted souls  of  good  men  "going  to  the  bosom  of  Abra- 
ham." 

I  grant  that  David  in  his  Psalms,  Isaiah  and  Daniel  in 
their  prophecies,  have  some  hints  of  the  resurrection  of 
the  body  ;  but  this  doth  not  seem  to  h'ave  been  the.  com- 
mon principle  or  support  of  virtue  and  goodness,  or  a 
general  article  of  belief  among  the  Jews  in  the  early  ages. 

In  the  days  of  the  later  prophets,  and  after  their  return 
from  Babylon,  I  confess  the  Jews  had  some  notions  of  a 
resurrection  ;  but  they  also  retained  their  opinion  of  the 
"righteous  souls  being  at  rest  with  God"  in  a  Separate 
State  before  the  resurrection.  See  the  book  of  Wisdom, 
chap.  iii.  1—4,  "The  souls  of  the  righteous  are  in  the  hand 
of  God,  and  there  shall  no  torment  touch  them.  In  the 
sight  of  the  unwise  they  seemed  to  die,  and  their  depar- 
ture is  taken  for  misery,  and  their  going  from  us  to  be 
utter  destruction  ;  but  they  are  in  peace  ;  for,  though  they 
be  perished  in  the  sight  pf  men,  yet  is  their  hope  full 
of  immortality,"  .and  iv.  7,  "Though  the  righteous  be 
prevented  with  death,  yet  they  shall  be  in  rest." 

That  this  was  the  most  common  doctrine  of  the  Jews, 
except  the  Sadducees  and  their  followers,  in  our  Saviour's 
time,  and  that  itwas  the  doctrine  of  the  primitive  Christians 
also,  need  not  be  proved  here  ;  though  they  also  had  the 
expectation  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body. 

Now,  if  this  be  the  chief  or  only  doctrine  which  men 
could  attain  to  under  the  dispensation  of  natural  reason, 
a*  the  most  powerful  motive  to  virtue  and  piety,  if  thia 


A  SEPARATE  STATE.  361 

be  the  chiefest  doctrine  of  that  kind  that  we  know  of, 
which  the  patriarchs  and  the  primitive  Jews  enjoyed,  if 
this  also  be  a  constant  doctrine  of  later  Jews,  i.  e.  the 
wisest  and  best  of  them,  and  also  of  the  'primitive  Chris- 
tians,' which  had  so  much  influence  on  the  good  behaviour 
of  all  of  them  toward  God  and  men,  and  by  which  God 
carried  on  his  work  of  piety  in  their  hearts  and  lives,  and 
by  which  also  he  impressed  the  consciences  of  evil  men, 
in  some  measure,  and  restrained  them  from  their  utmost 
excesses  of  vice  and  wickedness,  is  it  not  hard  to  be  sup- 
posed that  this  doctrine  is  all  mere  fancy  and  delusion, 
and  hath  nothing  of  truth  in  it  ?  And  indeed,  if  this  doc- 
trine had  .been  taken  away,  the  Heathens  would  be  left 
without  any  possible  true  notion  of  a  future  state  of  re- 
compence,  and  the  Patriarchs  seem  to  have  had  no  suffi- 
cient principle  or  motive  to  virtue  and  piety  left  them, 
and  the  principles  and  motives  of  goodness  in  the  follow- 
ing ages  among  '  Jews  and  Christians,'  had  been  greatly 
diminished  and  enfeebled. 

At  the  conclusion  of  this  chapter,  I  cannot  help  taking 
notice,  (though  I  shall  but  just  mention  it,)  that  the  mul- 
titude of  narratives  which  we  have  heard  of  in  all  ages  of 
the.' apparition  of  the  spirits  or  ghosts'  of  persons  depart- 
ed from  this  life,  can  hardly  be  all  delusion  and  falsehood. 
Some  of  them  have  been  affirmed  to  appear  upon  such 
great  and  important  occasions,  as  may  be  equal  to  such  an 
unusual  event.  And  several  of  these  accounts  have  been 
attested  by  such  witnesses  of  wisdom,  and  prudence,  and 
sagacity,  under  no  distempers  of  imagination,  that  they 
may  justly  demand  £  belief;  and  the  effects  of  these  appa- 
ritions in-  the  discovery  of  murders  and  things  unknown, 
have  been  so  considerable  and  useful,  that  a  fair  disputant 
should  hardly  venture  to  run  directly  counter  to  such  a 
cloud  of  witnesses,  without  some  good  assurance  on  the 
contrary  side.  .  He  must  be  a  shrewd  philosopher  indeed, 
who,  upon  any  other  hypothesis,  can  give  a  tolerable  ac- 
count of  all  the  narratives  in  *  Glanvill's  Sadducismus  Tri- 
umphatus,'  or  'Baxter's  World  of  spirits  and  apparitions,' 
&c.  Though  I  will  grant  some  of  these  stories  have  but 
insufficient  proof,  yet,  if  there  be  but  one  real  apparition 
of  a  departed  spirit,  then  the  point  is  gained,  that  there  is 
a  Separate  State. 

And  indeed,  the  Scripture  itself  seems  to  mention  such 
46  2F 


362  ESSAY  TOWARDS  THE  PROOF  OF 

sort  of  ghosts  or  appearances  of  souls  departed,  Matth, 
xiv.  26.  When  the  disciples  saw  Jesus  walking  on  the 
water,  they  "thought  it  had  been  a  spirit:"  and,  Luke 
xxiv.  36,  after  his  resurrection  they  saw  him  at  once  ap- 
pearing in  the  midst  of  them,  "and  they  supposed  they 
had  seen  a  spirit ;"  and  our  Saviour  doth  not  contradict 
their  notion,  but  argues  with  them  upon  the  supposition 
of  the  truth  of  it,  "A  spirit  hath  not  flesh  and  bones  as 
ye  see  me  to  have."  And  Acts  xxiii.  8,  9.  The  word 
spirit  seem  to  signify  the  l  apparition  of  a  departed  soul,' 
where  it  is  said  "the  Sadducees  say,  There  is  no  resurrec- 
tion, neither  angel  nor  spirit,"  and  ver.  9,  "If  a  spirit  or 
an  angel  hath  spoken  to  this  man,"  &c.  A  spirit  here  is 
plainly  distinct  from  an  angel,  and  what  can  it  mean  but 
an  apparition  of  a  human  soul  which  has  left  the  body  ? 

§  IV.   Objections  answered. 

Having  pointed  out  so  many  springs  of  argument  to 
support  this  doctrine,  from  the  word  of  God  as  well  as 
from  reason  and  tradition,  I  proceed  now  to  answer  some 
particular  objections  which  are  raised  against  it 

Object.  I.  The  Scripture  is  so  far  from  supposing  that 
the  soul  of  man  is  immortal,  or  that  there  is  any  such 
thing  as  the  life  of  the  soul  continuing  after  the  death  of 
the  body,  that  it  often  speaks  of  the  "  death  of  the  soul," 
if  the  words  were  translated  exactly  according  to  the 
original.  Numb.  xxxi.  19,  "Whosoever  hath  killed  any 
person,"  Hebr.  any  soul.  1  Sam.  xxii.  22,  "I  have  occa- 
sioned the  death  of  every  soul  of  thy  father's  house." 
Judges  xvi.  30,  "  And  Sampson  said,  Let  my  soul  die 
with  the  Philistines."  Ezk.  xviii.  20,  "The  soul  that 
sinneth  it  shall  die."  Psal.  Ixxxix.  48,  "  What  man  is 
he  that  liveth  and  shall  not  see  death  ?  shall  he  deliver  his 
soul  from  the  hand  of  the  grave  ?"  1  Kings  xix.  4, 
"Elijah  requested  for  himself  that  he  might  die,"  Hebr. 
that  his  soul  might  die.* 

Jlnsw.  The  word  soul  in  English,  Nephesh  in  Hebrew, 
Psyche  in  Greek,  and  Jlnima  in  Latin,  &c.  signifies  not 
only  the  conscious  and  active  principle  in  man,  which 
thinks  and  reasons,  loves  and  hates,  hopes  and  fears,  and 
which  is  the  proper  agent  in  virtue  or  vice,  but  it  is  used 

*  The  simple  answer  to  this  objection  is,  that  in  the  Hebrew  idiom  soul, 
as  denoting  the  more  excellent  part  of  man,  is  commonly  used  for  tkewhoU 
person :  "  Let  my  soul  die,"  means,  "  let  me  die,"  &c. — ED. 


A  SEPARATE  STATE.  363 

also  to  signify  the  principle  of  animal  life  and  motion  in 
a  living  creature.  And,  though  these  two  in  themselves 
are  very  distinct  things,  yet,  upon  this  account,  the  word 
soul  is  attributed  to  brutes  as  well  as  to  men.  For  the 
Jews  as  well  as  some  Heathens,  in  their  mistaken  philoso- 
phy, supposed  the  same  'soul  of  man/  which  gives  natu- 
ral life  to  the  body,  to  be  also  that  very  intellectual  princi- 
ple, which  thinks  and  reasons,  fears  and  loves  ;  and,  upon 
this  account,  they  gave  botfy  these  principles,  how  distinct 
soever  in  themselves,  one  common  name,  and  called  them 
*  the  soul/  .  . 

Now,,  the  soul,  cr  the  principle  of  animal  life  and  mo- 
*tion,  being  the  chief  or  most  valuable  thing  in  an  animal, 
it  came  to  pass  that  the  whole  animal  was  called  a  soul : 
therefore,  even  birds  and  fishes  are  called  "  living  souls," 
Gen.  i.  20,  smd  anv  animals  whatsoever  in  Scripture  are 
called  <  souls' or  <  living  souls.'  And  then,  for  the  same 
reason,  i.  e.  because  the  '  soul  of  man'  is  his  chief  part, 
the  whole  person  of  man  is  called  '  his  soul,'  Gen.  ii.  7, 
"  Man  became  a  living  soul,"  i.  e.  a  living  person.  So 
Exod.  i.  5,  "  All  the  souls  that  came  out  of  the  loins  of 
Jacob  were  seventy  souls,"  i.  e.  all  the  persons  were 
seventy.  ,  « 

And  this  is  not- only  the  language  of  the  Jews,  but  even 
of  other  nations.  In  our  country  we  use  the  word  souls 
to  signify  persons.  So  we  say  <  a  poor  soul,'  when  we 
see  a  person  in  misery  ;  we  use  the  word  f  a  meagre  soul/ 
for  a  thin  man  ;  we  say, '  there  were  twenty  souls  lost  in. 
the  ship,'  i.  e.  twenty  persons/  &c. 

Now,  the  word  soul  among  the  Jews  being  so  univer- 
sally used  to  signify  the  '  person  of  man," they  used  the 
same  word  to  signify  <  the  person',  when  he  was  dead  as 
well  as  when  he  was  alive.  Numb.  vi.  6,  "  He  shall  come 
at  no  dead  body,"  in  the  Hebr.  no  dead  soul,  i.  e.  no  dead 
man  or  woman,  or  perhaps  no  dead  animal. 

Since  the  word  soul  is  taken  so  often  and  so  commonly 
to  signify  the  person  of  a  man  or  woman,  no  wonder  that 
there  is  so  frequent  mention  of  souls  dying  in  the  Scrip- 
ture, when  human  persons  die. 

And,  if  the  soul  signify  a  man  or  woman  when  they  are 
dead  as  well  as  when  living,  here  is  a  fair  account  why 
the  Scriptures  may  speak  of  the  "  souls  going  down  to  the 
grave,"  or  being  "  delivered  from  the  grave,"  &c.  Psal. 


364  ESSAY  TOWARDS  THE  PROOF  OF 

Ixxxix.  48,  "  Shall  he  deliver  his  soul  from  the  hand  of 
the  grave  ?"  This  may  either  denote  his  principle  of  ani- 
mal life,  or  his  person,  i.  e.  himself. 

Now  this  account  of  things  is  very  consistent  with  the 
scriptural  doctrine  of  the  distinction  of  the  '  intelligent 
soul'  of  man  from  his  body,  and  the  '  intelligent  soul's' 
survival  of  the  body,  nor  do  any  of  these  scriptural  ex- 
pressions concerning  the  soul  forbid  this  supposition. 
For,  though  in  some  places,  the  word  Soul  signifies  'the 
person'  of  the  man  or  his  '  body,'  or  that-' animal  princi- 
ple' which  may  die,  yet  in  other  places  i*  signifies  that  'in- 
telligent' or  '  thinking  principle'  whi-ih  cannot  die,  as  we 
have  before  proved  where  our  Saviour  tells  us,  "we  shoul'd 
not  fear  them  that  kill  the  body,  but  cannot  kill  the  soul." 
Wheresoever  the  Scripture  speaks  of  a  "  soul's  being 
killed,"  it  only  means  that  the  'person  who  was  mortal  is 
slain,'  i.  e.  the  life  of  the  body  is  destroyed,  and  the  man 
considered  as  a  compound  being  made  up  of  soul  and  body 
is  in  some  sense  .dissolved  when  one  part  of  the  composi- 
tion dies.  But  where  the  soul  signifies  the  intellectual 
principle  in  man,  it  is  never  said  'to  die,J  unless  the  word 
'death'  means  a  loss  of  happiness,  or  living  in  misery; 
but  this  implies  natural  'life'  still, for  this rsoul  cannot  natu- 
rally be  destroyed  by  any  power  but  that  which  made  it. 

If  any  person  object  that  the  apostle  in  Acts  ii.  31,  says, 
"the  soul  of  Christ  was  not  left  in  hell,  or  the  grave  ;."  for 
so  the  word  in  Hebrew  may  signify,  Psal,  xvi.  10,  whence 
this  is  cited  ;  there  is  a  sufficient  answer  to  be  given  to 
this  two  or  three  ways,  ft  may  be  construed,  that  the 
principle  of  the  animal  life  of  Christ- was  not  left  to  con- 
tinue in  deatn ;  of  that  the  person  of  the  man  Jesus  was 
not  left  in  death  or  the  grave,.the  body  beinq;  sometimes 
put  for  the  person  ;  or  it  may  be  as  well  construed,  that  the 
spirit  of  Christ  or  his  intellectual  soul  was  not  left  in  the 
state  of  the  dead,  or  of  separation  from  the  body,  which  the 
word  sheol  in  the  Hebrew  and  «fa  in  Greek,  signify. 

Here  it  may  be  observed  also,  that  the  word  which  sig- 
nifies '  spirit,  ruach,  pneuma,  spiritus,'  in  .Hebrew,  Greek 
and  Latin,  and  other  languages,  is  used  sometimes  for  air 
or  breath,  which  is  supposed  to  b*e  the  principle  of  life  to 
the  animal'  body  ;  and  sometimes  it  signifies  the  '  intellec- 
tual soul,'  the  conscious  and  active  principle  in  man  ;  and 
therefore  whatsoever  may  be  said  of  the  '  spirit's  dying,' 


A  SEPARATE  STATE.  365 

or  '  being  lost,'  is  no  proof  that  the  conscious  principle  in 
•  man  dies,  which  is  a  very  different  thing  from  breath  or  air. 

Perhaps  it  will  be  said  here,  does  not  Moses  suppose 
•breath  to  be  the  soul  or  spirit  in  man,  when  he  says,  Gen. 
ii.  7,  "  God  breathed  into  his  nostrils  the  breath  of  life, 
and  man  became  a  living  soul." 

I  answer,  rt  is  evident  that  Moses  makes  a  plain  differ- 
ence between  God'.s  formation  *of  man  and  brutes,  for  he 
makes  no  distinction  between  their  soul  and  body  in 
their  .crcatfon  ;  but  he  distinguishes  the  soul  from  the 
body  of  man,  in  his  creation,  speaking  according  to 
the  common  language  and  philosophy  of  that  age  as 
though  the  soul  were  in  the  breath  :  nor. was  it  proper 
to  speak  in  strict  philosophical  language  to  those  ignorant 
people  ;  nor  were' the  modes  of  expression  in  the  Bible 
so  peculiarly  formed  to  t,each  us  philosophy  as  religion.  . 
',  But  of  this  distinction  between  the  'soul  of  a  brute,'  and 
the  'soul  of  a  man, 'there  seems  to  be  a  plain  intimation 
given  by  Solomon  in  the  beok  ofJEcclesiastes  ehap.  iii.  21. 
"  Who'Jtnoweth  the  spirit  of  man  that  goeth  upward,  and 
the  spirit  of  a  beast  that  goeth  downward  to  the  ea"rth  ?" 
that  the  '  spirit  of  man,'  i.  e.  his  conscious  and  intellectual 
principle  f  gbeth  upvVard,'  or  survives  at  the  death  of  fhe 
body,  bHt '  the  spirit  of  the  beast,'  j.  e.  the  spring  of  its 
animal  life, ' goeth  down  to  the  earth,'  is  mingled  with  the 
common  elements  of  this  material  world  and  entirely  lost. 
•  But  the  wise  man  in  this  place  perhaps  expresses  some 
of  his  former  atheistical  doubts,  saying,  'who  knows' 
whether  there  is  any 'difference  between 'them  ?  yet  it  in- 
timates thus  much,  that  men  who  pretended  to  wisdom  in 
that  age,  supposed  such  a  difference  between  the  spirit  of 
man  and  the  spirit  of  a  brute. 

Object.  II.  Is  take rr  from  Psal.  vi.  5,  <<In  death  there 
is  no  remembrance  of  thee  ;  in  the  grave  who  shall  give 
thee  thanks  ?"  and  Psal.  cxlvi.  4,  "  His  breath  goeth 
forth,  he  returnpth  to  his  earth ;  in  that  very  day  his 
thoughts  perish  ;"'  and  Eccles.  ix.  5,  "  The  living  know 
that  they  shall  die,  but  the  dead  know  not  any.thing."  From 
all  which  words  some  would  infer  there  is  no  such  thing 
as  a  Separate  State  of  souls. 

Jlmw.  'Both  David  and  his  son  Solomon  exclude  all 
such  sort  of  thoughts  and  actions,  both  religious  and  civil, 
from  the  state  of  cbeath  as  are  practised  in  this  life,  all  the 
2  F  2 


366  ESSAY  TOWARDS  THE  PROOF  OF 

pursuits  of  their,  present  purposes,  their  present  way*, 
and  manner  of  divine  worship,  and  their  management  or1 
consciousness  of  human  affairs :  but  they  do. not  exclude  all 
manner  of  consciousness,  knowledge,  thought  or  action, 
such  as  may  be  suited  to  the  invisible  state  of  spirits. 
The  design  of  the  writers  in  those  places  o(  Scripture  re- 
quires no  more  than  this4  and  therefore  the  words  cannot 
be  construed  to  any  farther  sense,  or'toi  exclude  the  con- 
scious and  active  powers  of  a  separate  spirit  fr«m  their  pro- 
per exercise  in  that  ( invisible  world,  though  they  have 
done  with  all  their  actions  in  the  present  visible  state. 

Object.  III.  Is  taken  frdta  John  xiv.  3,  "If -'I  go  and 
prepare  a  place  for  you,  I  will  come  again  and 'receive 
you  to  myself,  that  where  I-  am  there  ye  may  be  also;" 
which  seems  to  determine  the  point,  that  the  followers 
of  Christ  were  not  to  be  present  with  him  until  he  came 
again  to  this  world  to  raise  the  dead,  and  to  take  his  disci- 
ples to  dwell  with  him. 

Jlnsw.  1.  It  hath  been  already  granted  by  some  ^per- 
sons who  doubt  of  the  Separate  State  of  all  souls,  that  the 
Apostles  had  this  special  favour  allowed'them  to  be  recerv- 
ed  into  the  presence  of  Christ  When 'they  departed  from  this 
body.  Now  these  words  were  spoken  to  the  Apostles,  and 
therefore  they  cannot  preclude  this  privilege  which  they 
expected,  viz.  that  when  they  were  '  absent  from  the  body' 
they  should  be  'present  with  the  Lord,'  2  Cor.  v.  8.  • 

•ftnsw.  2.  '  Christ  .came,  again'  to  his.  disciples  at  his 
own  resurrection  from  the  dead,  .and  taught  'them  the* 
things  of  the  other  werld>  and  better  prepared  them  for 
the  happiness  of  heaven  and  his  own'  presence.  He  came 
again  also  by  the  destruction  of, the  Jewish  state,  and  call- 
ed his  own  people  thence  before7hand,  as  an  emblem  of 
their  salvation  Vhen  the  world  should  be  destroyed.  He 
also  '  came  again'  at  their  death';  .when  he  ^that  hath  the 
keys  of  death  arid  the  invisible  world'  let  them  out  of  the 
prison  of  the  body  into  the  Separate  State,  that  they  might 
dwell  with  him.  The  'coming. of  Christ'  has  many  and 
various  senses  in  the  New  Testament,  and  need  not  be  re- 
ferred only"  to  his  (  coming  at  the  day  of  judgment.' 

Answ.  3.  But  suppose  in  this  place  the  words  of  Christ 
be  construed  concerning  his  'great  and  public  coming'  to 
raise  the  dead  and  Judge  the  world ;  it  is  ^cprtain  that  .in 
that  day  the  disciples  shall  be  received  to  'dwell  with  him* 


A  SEPARATE  STATE.  367 

in  a  much  more  complete  and  glorious  manner,  when  both 
soul  and  body  shalkie  made  the  inhabitants  of  heaven.  But 
•this  does  not  preclude  or  forbid  that  the  separate  souls  of 
his  followers  should  be  favoured  with  his  presence  in  par- 
adise before  his  public  coming  to  Judge  the  world.  Though 
thp  last'  and  greatest  blessing  be  only  mentioned  here',  it 
does  not  exclude  the  former. 

Object.  IV.  Sj.  Paul  in  Phil.  iii.  10,  11,  says,  that  he 
desired  "to  know  Christ  and  the  power  of  his  resurrection, 
(&c.)  if  by  any  means  he  might  attain  to  the  resurrection 
of  the  dead :'«'  now  what  need  had  the  Apostle  to  be  so  soli- 
Hjitous  about  the  resurrection  if  he' 'expected  to-  be  with 
Christ  immediately  upon  his  death,  since  being  with  Christ 
is  the  state  qf  ultimate  happiness?* 

Jinsw.  1.  Some  learned  men -suppose  that  the  apostle 
here  presses  after  some  peculiar  exaltationsVf  piety  in  this 
world,  and  after  an'  interest  in  some  first  resurrection,  or 
resurrection  of  the  martyrsand  most  eminent  saints,  which 
would.be  long  before  the  general  resurrection -of  all  the 
dead,  according  to  the  visions  of  St.  John,  Rev.  xx.  4 — 7. 
But  as  Ipam  aot  sufficiently. acquainted  with  the  sense  of 
that  prophecy  to  determine  my  opiniop  on  this'side,  I  pro- 
ceed to  other  answers. 

Ansiv.  2.  Wriat  if  the  words  of  St.  Paul  in  this  place  to 
the  Philippians,  should  mean  no  more  than  this,  as  tar..  13, 
14,  "  I  forgot  the  things  that  are  behind,"  as  though  I  had 
gained  .so  little  already  as  not  to  be  worth  my  notice;  "and 
I  reach  forth  unt6  those  things  which  are  before,"  i.  e.  fur- 
ther degree^  of  holiness  to  be  obtained,  'pressing  towards 
the  mark'  of.  perfection,  *if  by  any  means  I  might  be  made 
so  conformable  to  the  death  of  Christ,'  as  to  be  entirely  dead 
tQ  sin,  and  'if  by  any  means  I  might  attain  to  the  resur- 
rection of  the  dead,'  i.  'e.  to  §uch  a  perfection  of  holiness 
as  is  represented  by  the.  resurrection  of  Christ,  Rom.  vi, 
or  as  that  in  which  the  'dead  saints  shall  be  raised;'  for  I 
,  know  'I  have  not  already  attained  it,  nor  am  already  perfect.' 

Answ.  3.  Suppose  the  soul  of  St.  Paul  -to  be  present 
with  Christ  after  death  in  heaven  in  the  Separate  State, 
yet  this  is  not  the  ultimate  or  highest  '  happiness  of  the 
saints,'  and  therefore  he  aimed  at. something  higher  and 

*•  Paul  refers  to  the  '  resurrection  to  eternal  life;"  of  which  he  speaks  in 
v.  20,  21,  of  the  same  chapter,  with  glowing  energy. — ED. 


368  ESSAY  TOWARDS  THE  PROOF  OP 

further,  namely,  the  more  complete  happiness  which  he 
should  enjoy  at  the  resurrection  of  the  dead. 

.Object.  V.  is  borrowed  from  several  verses  of  1  Cor, 
xv.  where  the  Apostle  is  imagined  to  argue  thus,  "If  there 
be  no  resurrection  of  the  dead,"  ver.  18,  "Then  they 
whiclv  are  fallen- asleep  in  Christ  are  perished,"  ver.  19  ; 
"  theh  we  have  hope  only  in  this  life,"  and,  nothing  else  to 
-support  us.  Then  ver.  32,  (i  what  advantage"  do  I  get  by 
all  my  sufferings  for  Christ,  if  the  dead  rise  not  ?  We  had 
better  comply  with  the  ajjpetites  of  the  flesh  and  etojoy  a 
merry  life  here,  "  Let  us  eat  and  drink  for  to-morrow  we 
die  :"  whereby  it  is  evident  that  the  Apostle  places  the 
blessed  expectation  <  of thdse  that  are  fallen  asleep  in  Christ' 
bftly  and  entirely  npon  their  being  '  raised  from,  the  dead/ 
which  he  would  not  have  done  if  there  had  been  such  a 
Separate  State:  he  extends 'our  hope  in  Christ'  beyond 
<\his  Jife,'  and  raises  his  own  expectation  of  advantage  or 
reward  for  his  sufferings,  on  the  account  of  the. gospel  en- 
tirely and  only  upon  the  l  resurrection  of  the  dead/  having 
no  notion  of  any  happiness  in  a  Separate  State  of  souls: 
for  if  he  had  any  such  opinion  or  hope,  thjs  expectation 
of  the  happiness  of  the  SQU!  in  a  Separate  State  might 
have  been-  a  sufficient  proof  that  those  who  died  or  slept 
in  the  faith  of  Christ,  are  <  not  perished,\and  he  had  abun- 
dant reward  for  his  sufferings*  in  that  world  of  separate 
souls  without  the  resurrection  of  the  body.. 

Jinsw.  1.  It  must  be  granted  that  the  Scripture,  in  or- 
der to 'support  Christians  under  nresent  trials,  chiefly  re- 
fers them  to  the  day  of  .the  resurrection  and  final  judg- 
ment, as  the  great  and  chief  season  of  retrfbution:  the  reason 
of  this  will  appear  under  my  answer  to  a  following  objec- 
tion. Now  the  Apostle  may  be  supposed  to  argue  here 
only  on  this  foot,  neglecting  or  overlooking  the  Separate 
State,  as  though  this  final  retribution  at  and  after  the  res- 
urrection of  the  body  were  comparatively  the  whole,  be- 
cause it  is  far  the  chief  and  mo^t  considerable  part,  being 
much  the  most  sensible,  and  conspicuous,  and  of  the  long- 
est duration.  ..The  chief  part  of  any  thing  is  often  taken 
for  the  whole  ;  and  if  there  were  no  resurrection  of  the 
dead,  i.  e.  if  there  were  no  state  of  retribution  at  all,  then 
the  Epicurean  reasoning  would  be  good,  '.Let  us  eat  and 
drink  for  to-morrow  we  die.' 

And,  to  confirm  this  exposition,  we  may  take  notice,  that 


A  SEPARATE  STATE.  369 

in  other  places  of  Scripture,  where  the  '  resurrection  of 
the  dead'  is  mentioned,  this  anastasis  includes  the  whole 
state  of  existence  after  death,  both  the  Separate  and  the 
resurrection  State.  This  seems  to  be  the  sense  of  it  in  that 
famous  place,  Luks  xx.  35,  where  Christ  argues  with  the 
Sadducees,  who  denied  the  Separate  Sta'te  as  well  as  the 
resurrection  of  the  body.  Now  if  you  take  away  this 
anastasis,  this  whole  state  of  existence  and  retribution, 
then  they  that  suffer  for  Christ  have  no  advantage  or  re- 
compence,  and  the  Epicurean  doctrine  is  plainly  prefera- 
ble, at  least  in  the  common  sense  and  reasoning  of  men,  and 
in  such  seasons  of  trial  and  persecution. 

Nor  is  it  unreasonable  to  suppose  that  there  might  be 
some  of  these  principles  of  Sadducism  begun  to  be  instill- 
ed into  some  of  the  Corinthians,  viz.  that  there  were  re- 
wards and  punishments,  at  alHn  any  future  state  ;  for  he 
tells  them,  ver.  34.  that  some^  of  them  '  had  not  the  knowl- 
edge of  God,'  i.  e.  as  a  righteous  rewarder  of  them  that  dil- 
igently seek  him,  "I  speak  this,"  says  he,  "to  your  shame." 
And  ven  5,  8,  he  encourages  them  'to  be  "  steadfast  and 
unmovable,  always  abounding  in  the  work  of  the  Lord,-for 
as  much  as  ye  know  that  your  labour  is  not  in  vain  in  the 
Lord  ;"  i.  e.  there  is  certainly  a  future  state  of  recompence 
for  piety,  and  the  discovery  of  it  at  the  resurrection  of  the 
dead  is  the  most  public  and  glorious  part  of  it,  and  there- 
fore he  insists  upon  this  alone. 

•flnsw.  2-.  But  we  may  .give  yet  a  more  particular  answer 
to  thisobjection  :  for  if  we  take  in  the  whole  scheme  of 
the  Apostle's  argument  in  this  chapter,  we  shall  find  there 
is -no  sufficient  gfound  for  this  objection  against  a  Separate 
State.  He  begins,  ver.  12,  T3,  &e.  and  argues  thus,  "If 
there  be.no  resurrection  of  the  dead,  then  Christ  is  not 
risen,"  for  he  l*ose'  as  the  'first  fruits/  and  his  followers 
shall  be  the  harvest,  ver.  23,  but  if  there  be  no  harvest 
there  were  no  first-fruits  :  and  "if  Christ  be  not  risen, 
then  our  preaching  is  vain,,  and  your  faith  is  vain  ;"  ver. 
14,  "then  we  are*  found  false  witnesses  jn  matters  that 
relate  to  God,"  ver.  15.  mere  impostors,  who  preach  a 
wicked  falsehood,  and  lead  you  to  hope  for  a  happiness 
which  ye  shall  never  obtain  :  for  "if  Christ,  who  died  for 
our  sins,"  ver.  3,  "be  not  raised  for  our  justification," 
as  in  Rom.  iv.  ult.  ."then  are  ye  yet  in  your  sins,"  ye  lie 
yet  under  the  guilt  of  sin ;  and  If  so,  "then  also  they 
47 


370  ESSAY  TOWARDS  THE  PROOF  OP 

which  ha^e  fallen  asleep  in  Christ,"  or  have  died  in  the 
faith  of  Christ,  are  perished,  ver.  18,  they  must  either  be 
condemned,  or  be  utterly  lost  both  soul  and  body,  having 
no  ground  for  hope  of  eternal  life,  or  any  life  or  happiness 
at  all  hereafter.  Then  '  the  hope  of.  Christians  would  be 
in  this  life  only,'  and  we  are  'miserable  creatures'  who 
suffer  sy  much  for  Christ's  sake,  ver.  19  :  it  would  be  bet- 
ter for  us  .who  have  senses  and  appetites  as  well  as  other' 
men,  to  indulge  these  senses  and  appetites,  and  'eat  and 
drink  for  to-morrow  we  die,'  and  there  is  an  end  of  us  : 
there  can  be  no  future  state  of  happiness  of  any  kind  for 
us  to  expect,  either  in  eoul  or  body,  if  we  have  deceived 
you  in  the  doctrine  of-  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  and  all 
our  gospel  be  false.  We  are  then  such  sort  ef  impostors 
and  wicked  cheats  as  can  have  no  belief  of  a  future  state 
of  rewards  or  punishments,  and  we  had  better  act  like 
ourselves,  and  like  mere  Epicureans,  give  ourselves  up  to 
all  present  pleasures  than  expose  ourselves  to  perpetual 
sufferings  for  the  sake  of  a  man,  who  (if  there  be  no  re- 
surrection) died  and  never  rose  again,  and  therefore  cannot 
make  us  any  recompence.  Now  this  sort  of  arguing  does 
not  at  all  preclude  the  Separate  State  of  happiness,  but 
rather  establish  it. 

I  might  add  here  a  further  answer  to  this  objection,  viz. 
the  Apostle  is  representing  the  'sufferings  of  the  body'  for 
Christ's  sakfe,  ver.  30 — 32,  and  therefore  he  thinks  it  pro- 
per to  encourage  Christians  with  the  recompence  -of  the 
'resurrection  of  the  body,'  without  taking  any  particular 
notice  of  the  happiness  of  the  Separate  State  of  the  soul  : 
and  in  this  view  of  things  his  argument  stands  gottd.*  'If 
there  be  no  resurrection  of  the  body,  there  is  no  rfeeom- 
pence  for  sufferings  in  the  body  ;  let  us  then  give  the  body- 
its  pleasures  of  sense  ;  'Let  us  eat  and  drink'  while  we 
live,  for  -there  is  an  utter  end  of  us  in  death.  But  (saith 
he,  ver.  33,)  such  'evil  traditions  corrupt  ajl  good  manners,' 
and  therefore  they  are  not,  they  cannot  be  true  :  there 
must  be  a  resurrection  of  the  body  to*  encourage  sufferings 
in  the  body  for  the  sakfe  of  virtue  and  religion.* 

*  There  are  several  pages  of  just  and  pertinent  answers  to  this  objection 
by  my  learned  and  ingenious  friend  Mr.  Henry  Grove,  in  his  '  Thoughts 
concerning  the  Proof  of  a  Future  State  from  Reason,'  which  confirm  the 
replies  I  have  here  made..  '  Then  they,'  saith  he,  'who  are  fallen  asleep  in 
Christ  (by  whom  the  martyrs  seem  to  be  more  especially  intended)  are 


A  SEPARATE  STATE.  371 

Object.  VI.  Doth  not  the  New  Testament  constantly 
refer  the  rewards  and  punishments  of  good  and  bad  men 
to  the  time  of  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  or  the  second 
coming  of  Christ  ?  Is  it  not  with  this  prospect  it  terrifies 
the  sinner  ?  Is  it  not  with  this  it  comforts  the  good  man, 
and  supports  him  under  his  present  sufferings  ?  It  would 
be  endless  to  cite  all  the  particular  texts  on  this  occasion. 
That  one  text,  1  Thess.  iv.  14,  speaks  the  sense  of  many 
others,  and  is  sufficient  to  be  cited  here.  The  Apostle 
persuades  Christians  not  to  "mourn  for  the  dead  as  those 
that  sorrow  without  hope,"  and  gives  this  reason,  "for 
those  who  sleep  in  Jesus,  God  will  bring  with  him,"  when 
he  comes  to  raise  the  dead,  and  then  'they  shall  be  for 
ever  with  the  Lord;'  and  he  bids  them  'comfort  one 
another  with  these  words  :'  whereas  their  comforts  had 
been  much  nearer  at  hand  if  he  could  have  told  them  of 
the  Separate  State  of  happiness  which  the  departed  souls 
of  their  friends  at  present  enjoyed  ;  and  if  there  had  beqn 
any  such  state  he  had  the  fairest  opportunity  here  to  in- 
troduce it. 

Jlnstv.  This  very  text  I  have  mentioned  before  as  a 
proof  of  the  Separate  State,  and  it  is'plain  the  Apostle 
seems  to  hint  it,  though  he  doth  not  insist  upon  it,  when 
he  supposes  the  soul  of  the  deceased  to  be  with  Christ 
already  ;  for  he  saith,  "God  will  bring  them  with  him," 
i.  e.  from  heaven  when  he  comes  to  raise  their  bodies. 

But  to  give  a  more  general  answer  to  the  objection,  as 
drawn  from  the  silence  of  Scripture,  in  mc.ny  places,  about 
this  doctrine  of  the  Separate  State. 

There  are  good  reasons  why  the  New  Testament  more 
sparingly  mentions  the  Separate  State  of  souls,  and  doth 
most  frequently  (but  not  constantly)  refer  both  rewards 
and  punishments  to  the  resurrection. 

perished,  for  any  thing  that  Christ  can  do  for  them,  who  will  never  reward 
them  for  their  sufferings,  never  restore  that  life  which  they  lost  for  his 
sake.'  And  particularly  his  exposition  on  those  words,  '  we  arc  most 
miserable  of  all  men,'  is  very  agreeable  to  the  place.  '  The  Greek  txtuvvrtpot 
signifies  that  we  are  '  more  to  be  pitied'  than  any  men,  as  wanting  the  com- 
mon understanding  of  men  to  suffer  death  for  Christ's  sake,  who  would 
never  he  able  to  recompence  us  for  it,  if  he  be  not  risen  from  the  dead. 
And  it  is  (saith  he  a  little  afterward)  for  want  of  observing  the  inter- 
mediate links  of  the  Apostle's  argument  (which  he  there  represents),  that 
some  have  beerr  at  a  loss  for  his  meaning,  while  others  nave  quite  mistaken 
at.'  Sco  p.  124,  &c.— WATTS. 


ESSAY  TOWARDS  THE  PROOF  OF 

(1. )  Because  the  Heathens  themselves  (at  least  the  wisest 
and  best  of  them)  did  believe  some  sort  of  future  state  of 
happiness  or  misery,  into  which  the  souls  of  men  should 
be  disposed  when  they  departed  from  these  bodies,  accord- 
ing to  the  vices  or  virtues  they  had  practised  in  this  life  ; 
and  they  derived  this  doctrine  from  their  reasonings  upon 
the  foot  of  the  light  of  nature.  The  writings  of  Plato  and 
his  followers,  and  the  sentiments  of  Socrates  conveyed  to 
us  in  Plato's  writings,  are  full  of  this  opinion,  viz:  of  the 
existence  of  the  souls  of  good  men  in  a  happy  state,  when 
they  depart  from  the  body.  Cicero  sometimes  speaks  of 
it  as  his  opinion,  his  desire  and  his  hope,  nor  were  other 
heathen  writers  ignorant  of  this  doctrine  ;  but  .the  New 
Testament  speaks  less  of  this  point,  because  it  is  the  evi- 
dent design  of  Christ  and  his  Apostles  to  lead  their  dis- 
ciples to  .the  more  'peculiar  doctrines  of  revelation,'  rather 
than  to  treat  them  with  sentiments  derived  from  the  light 
of  nature.  And  this  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  from  the 
de'ad,  and  the  eternal  rewards  and  eternal  punishments 
that  attend  it,  are  more  abundantly  mentioned  in  the  New 
Testament,  because  they  stand  so  much  more  connected 
with  the  gospel  of  Christ,  and  with  his  own  resurrection 
from  the  dead,  which  is  the  chjef  evidence  of  its  divine 
authority.  It  is  Christ  who  rose  from  the  dead,  who  ir 
appointed  to  raise  and  to  judge  all  mankind  ;  and  there- 
fore it  is  natural  for  the  Apostles  in  their  writings,  whc 
desire  to  keep  the  death  and  resurrection  of  Christ  always* 
in  the  view  of  their  converts,  to  point  to  the  awful  events 
of  that  day,  when- their  Saviour,  risen  from  the  dead,  shall 
appear  in  the  execution  of  his  glorious  commission  and 
judge  the  world.  Thus  St.  Paul  preaches  to  the  Athe- 
nians, Acts  xvii.  30.  "God  now  commands  all  men  every 
where  to  repent,  because  he  hath  appointed  a  day  in  which 
lie  will  judge  the  world  in  righteousness,  by  that  man 
whom  he  hath  ordained ;  whereof  he  hath  given  assurance 
to  all  men,  in  that,  he  hath  raised  him  from  the  dead." 
And  in  many  other  places  he  connects  our  resurrection 
and  future  recompences  with  the  resurrection  of  Christ 

And  in  this  respect,  as  well  as  in  some  others,  the  doc- 
trine of  rewards  and  punishments  after  the  resurrection, 
seems  to  carry  such  superior  force  in  it,  especially  upon 
those  who  believe  the  gospel,  that  it  is  no  wonder  the 
New  Testament  more  frequently  refers  to  this  great  da7 


A  SEPARATE  STATE.  373 

of  resurrection,  and  the  apostle  derives  the  chief  part  of 
his  consolations  or  terrors  from  it. 

(2.)  Then  will  be  the  'public  and  universal  retributions' 
of  vice  and  virtue  in  a  more  solemn  manner  exhibited  be- 
fore all  the  world,  whereas  the  entrance  of  mankind  into 
the  recompences  of  the  Separate  State  is  more  private  and 
personal. 

(3.)  Then  will  be  the  day  of  '  complete  rewards  and 
punishments'  of  man  in  both  parts  of  his  nature,  soul  and 
body.  All  the  Separate  State  belongs  only  to  the  soul,  and 
even  those  recompences  are  but  imperfect  in  comparison 
of  what  they  will  be  when  body  and  soul  are  united. 

(4.)  Then  will  be  the  most  glorious,  visible  and  sensible 
distinction  made  between  the  good  and  bad  ;  and  since 
this  belongs  to  the  body  as  well  as  the  soul,  it  is  very  pro- 
perly set  before  the  eyes  of  men  in  the. holy  writings  as 
done  at  the  resurrection  :  because  corporeal  and  sensible 
tilings  work  more  powerfully  on  their  in.agination,  and 
more  sensibly  and  effectually  strike  the  consciences  of 
men,  than  the  notion  of  mere  spiritual  rewards  and  punish- 
ments in  the  Separate  State. 

(5. )  The  state  of  rewards  and  punishments  after  the 
resurrection,  will  be  fiar  the  longest  and  most  durable 
recompence  of  the  good  and  the  bad  :  and  therefore  it  is 
called  '  eternal' so  often  in  Scripture,  '  everlasting  life,' 
and  '  everlasting  fire,'  Matth.  xxv.  41.  Whereas  the  retri- 
butions of  the  Separate  State  are  comparatively  but  of 
short  duration  ;  and  this  is  another  thing  that  makes  a 
sensible  impression  on  the.  hearts  of  men,  viz.  the  'eter- 
nal continuance'  of  the  joys  and  sorrows  that  follow  the 
_  .  j  •> 

last  judgment. 

Perhaps  it.  will  be  replied  here,  that  in  the  beginning 
of  this  essay  I  represented  the  Separate  State  as  a  '  more 
effectual  motive'  to  the  hopes  and  fears  of  men,  because 
the  joys  and  sorrows  of  it  were  so  much  '  nearer  at  hand' 
than  those  of  the  resurrection  :  and  why  do  I  now  repre- 
sent the  recompences  of  the  resurrection  under  such 
characters  as  are  fit  to  have  the  strongest  influence,  and 
become  the  most '  effectual  motive  ?' 

Jlnsw.  It  is  granted  that  the  recompences  after  the  res- 
urrection have  several  circumstances  that  carry  with  them 
some  peculiar  and  most  powerful  motives  to  religion  and 
virtue  j  but  that  awful  day  may  still  seem  to  want  this 
2G 


374  ESSAY  TOWARDS  THE  PROOF  OF 

one  motive,  viz.  '  the  nearness  of  it,'  which  belongs  emi- 
nently to  the  recompences  of  the  Separate  State.  Now, 
if  the  Scripture  does  really  reveal  the  doctrine  of  re- 
wards and  punishments  of  souls  immediately  after  death, 
and  of  soul  and  body  together  at  the  resurrection,  then  all 
those  circumstances  of  effectual  motive  to  piety  are  col- 
lected in  our  doctrine,  viz.  the  'immediate  nearness  of 
them'  in  the  Separate  State,  and  the  'public  appearance/ 
the  '  universality,'  the  '  completeness,'  the  'sensibility/ 
and  the  '  duration'  of  them  after  the  great  rising-day. 

I  might  yet  take  occasion,  fronl  this  objection,  to  give 
a  further  reason,  why  the  Apostles  more  frequently  draw 
their  motives  of  hope  and  fear  from  the  resurrection  and 
the  great  judgment,  i.  e.  that  even  that  clay  of  recom- 
pence  was  generally  then  supposed  to  be  'near  at  hand/ 
and  so  there  was  less  need  to  insist  upon  the  joys  and 
sorrows  of  the  Separate  State. 

As  the  patriarchs  and  the  Jews  of  old,  after  the  Mes- 
siah was  promised,  were  constantly  expecting  his  '  first 
coming/  almost  in   every  generation  till  he  did  appear, 
and  many  modes  of  prophetical  expression  in  Scripture 
(which  speak  of  things  long  to  come,  as  though  they  were 
present  or  just  at  hand)  gave  them  some  occasion  for  this 
expectation,  so  the  Christians  of  the  first  age  did  generally 
expect  '  the  second  coming'  of  Christ  to  judgment,  and 
the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  in  that  very  age  wherein  it 
was  foretold.     St.   Paul  gives  us  a  hint  oi  it  in  2  Thess. 
ii.  1,  2.    They  supposed  the  'day  of  the  Lord  was  just 
appearing.'     And  many  expressions  of  Christ  concerning 
his  'return'  or  '  coming  again'  after  his  departure,  seemed 
to  represent  his  absence  as  a  thing  of  no  long  continu- 
ance.    It  is  true,  these  words  of  his  may  partly  refer  to 
his  coming  to  destroy  Jerusalem  ;  and  the   coming  in  of 
his  kingdom   among  the  Gentiles,  or  his   coming  by  his 
messenger  of  death,  yet  they  generally,  in  their  supreme 
and  final  sense,  point  to  his  '  coming'  to  raise  the  dead  and 
judge  the  world.     And  from   the  words  of  Christ  also 
concerning  John,  chap.  xxi.  22,  "  If  I  will  that  he  tarry 
till  I  come ;"  it  is  probable  that  the  Apostles  themselves 
at  first,  as  well  as  other  Christians,  might  derive  this  ap- 
prehension of  his  speedy  coming. 

It  is  certain,  that  when  Christ  speaks  of  his  '  coming/ 
in  general  and  promiscuous  and  parabolical  terms,  whether 


A  SEPARATE  STATE.  375 

with  regard  to  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  or  the  judg- 
ment of  the  world,  he  saith,  Matth.  xxiv.  34,  "  Verily  I 
say  unto  you  this  generation  shall  not  pass  till  all  these 
things  be  fulfilled."  And  the  Apostles  frequently  told  the 
world,  the  coming  of  the  Lord  was  near,  Phil.  iv.  5, 
"The  Lord  is  at  hand,"  Heb.  x.  25,  "Exhorting  one  an- 
other, so  much  the  more  as  you  see  the  day  approaching." 
And  that  this  is  the  day  of  the  "  coming  of  Christ,"  ver. 
37,  assures  us,  "For  yet  a  little  while,  he  that  shall  come 
will  come,  and  will  not  tarry."  Rom.  xiii.  12,  "Now  it 
is  high  time  to  awake  out  of  sleep.  The  night  is  far 
spent,  the  day  is  at  hand."  1  Pet.  iv.  5,  "To  him  who  is 
ready  to  judge  the  quick  and  the  dead."  Ver.  7,  "The 
end  of  all  things  is  at  hand."  James  v.  8,  9,  "The  com- 
ing of  ihe  Lord  draweth  nigh.  Behold  the  judge  stand- 
eth  at  the  door."  Rev.  xxii.  10,  "  Seal  not  up  the  prophe- 
cy of  this  book,  for  the  time  is  at  hand."  Ver.  12,  "And 
behold  I  come  quickly,  and  my  reward  is  with  me,  to 
give  to  every  man  as  his  v/ork  shall  be."  And  the  sacred 
volume  is  closed  with  this  assurance,  ver.  20,  "  Surely  I 
come  quickly,"  and  the  echo  and  the  expectation  of  the 
Apostle  or  the  church,  '  Amen.  Even  so,  come  Lord 
Jesus.' 

It  is  granted,  that  in  prophetical  expressions,  such  as 
all  these  are,  some  obscurity  is  allowed  :  and  it  may  be 
doubtful,  perhaps,  whether  some  of  them  may  refer  to 
Christ's  coming  by  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  or  his  com- 
ing to  call  particular  persons  away  by  his  messenger  of 
death,  or  his  appearance  to  the  last  judgment.  It  is  grant- 
ed also, -it  belongs  to  prophetical  language  to  set  things  far 
distant,  as  it  were,  before  our  eyes,  and  make  them  seem 
present  or  very  near  at  hand.  But  still  these  expressions 
had  plainly  such  an  influence  on  primitive  Christians,  as 
that  they  imagined  the  day  of  resurrection  and  judgment 
was  very  near :  and,  since  the  prophetical  words  of  Christ 
and  his  Apostles  seemed  to  carry  this  appearance  in  them, 
and  to  keep  the  church  under  some  uncertainty,  it  is  no 
wonder  that  the  Apostles  chiefly  referred  the  disciples  of 
that  age  to  the  day  of  the  resurrection  lor  comfort  under 
their  sufferings  and  sorrows.  And,  though  they  never  as- 
serted that  Christ  would  come  to  raise  the  dead  and  judge 
the  world  in  that  age,  yjet,  when  they  knew  themselves 
that  he  would  not  come  so  soon,  they  might  not  think  it 


376  ESSAY  TOWARDS  THE  PROOF  OF 

necessary  to  give  every  Christian,  nor  every  church,  an 
immediate  account  of  the  more  distant  time  of  this  great 
event,  that  the  uncertainty  of  it  might  keep  them  ever 
watchful.  And  even  when  St.  Paul  informs  the  Thessalo- 
nians  that  the  day  of  the  Lord  was  not  so  very  near  as  they 
imagined  it,  2  Thess.  ii.  2,  yet  he  does  not  put  it  ofi'  be- 
yond that  century  by  any  express  language. 

Thus  we  see  there  is  very  good  reason  why  the  New 
Testament  should  derive  its  motives  of  terrqr  and  com- 
fort chiefly  from  the  '  resurrection'  and  the  '  day  of  judg- 
ment ;'  though  it  is  not  altogether  silent  of  the  Separate 
State  of  souls,  and  their  happiness  or  misery,  commenc- 
ing, in  some  measure,  immediately  after  death,  which  has 
been  before  proved  by  many  Scriptures  cited  for  that  pur- 
pose. 

Here  let  it  be  observed,  that  I  am  not  concerned  in  that 
question,  Whether  human  souls  separated  from  their 
bodies  have  any  other  corporeal  vehicle  to  which  they 
are  united,  or  by  which  they  act  during  the  intermediate' 
state  between  death  and  the  resurrection?  All  that  I  pro- 
pose to  maintain  here,  is,  that  that  period  or  interval  is 
not  <  a  state  of  sleep,'  i.  e.  utter  unconsciousness  and  un- 
activity :  and,  whether  it  be  united  to  a  vehicle  o-  no, 
I  call  it  still  the  Separate  State,  because  it  is  a  state  of  the 
soul's  separation  from  this  body,  which  is  united  to  it 
in  the  present  life. 

§  V.  More  Objections  answered. 

Since  this  book  was  written  I  have  met  with  several 
other  objections  against  the  doctrine  here  maintained  ; 
and,  as  I  think  they  may  all  have  a  sufficient  answer 
given  to  them,  and  the  truth  be  defended  against  the 
force  of  them,  I  thought  it  very  proper  to  lead  the  reader 
into  a  plain  and  easy  solution  of  them. 

Object.  VII.  Is  not  long  life  represented  often  in 
Scripture,  and  especially  in  tlie  Old  Testament,  as  a  bles- 
sing to  man?  And,  is  not  death  set  before  us  as  a  curse 
or  punishment  ?  But,  how  can  either  of  these  represen- 
tations be  just  or  true,  if  souls  exist  in  a  Separate  State  ? 
Are  they  not  then  brought  into  a  state  of  liberty  by 
death,  and  freed  from  all  the  inconveniences  of  this  flesh 
and  blood  ?  By  this  means  death  ceases  to  be  a  pun- 
ishment, and  long  life  to  be  a  blessing. 

It  is  according  as  the  characters  of  men  are 


A  SEPARATE  STATE.  377 

either  good  or  bad,  and  according  as  good  men  know 
more  or  less  of  a  Separate  State  of  rewards  or  punish- 
ments, so  a  long  life,  or  early  death,  are  to  be  esteemed 
blessings  or  calamities  in  a  greater  or  a  Ipss  degree. 

1  Long  life'  was  represented  as  a  blessing  to  good  men, 
in  as  much  as  it  gave  them  opportunity  to  enjoy  more 
of  the  blessings  of  this  life,  and  to  do  more  service  for 
God  in  the  world :  and  especially  since,  in  ancient  times, 
there  was  much  darkness  upon  this  doctrine  of  the  future 
state,  and  many  good  men  had  not  so  clear  a  knowledge 
of  it.  Long  life  was  also  a  blessing  to  wicked  men,  because 
it  kept  them  in  a  state  wherein  there  were  some  comforts, 
and  withheld  them,  for  a  season,  from  the  punishments  of 
the  Separate  State. 

Death  was  doubtless  a  punishment  and  a  curse  when  it 
was  first  brought  into  human  nature  by  the  sin  of  Adam, 
as  it  cut  off  mankind  from  the  blessings  of  this  life,  and 
plunged  him  into  a  dark  and  unknown  state  :  and  if  he 
were  a  wicked  man,  it  plunged  him  into  certain  misery. 

But  since  the  blessings  of  the  future  state  of  happiness 
for  good  men  are  more  clearly  revealed,  'long  life'  is 
not  so  very  great  a  blessing,  nor  death  so  great  a  punish- 
ment to  good  men ;  for  death  is  sanctified  by  the  covenant 
of  grace  to  be  an  introduction  of  their  souls  into  the  Sepa- 
rate State  of  happiness,  and  the  curse  is  turned  in  some  re- 
spect into  a  blessing. 

Object.  VIII.  Was  it  not  supposed  to  be  a  great  privi- 
lege to  Enoch  and  Elijah  when  they  were  translated  with- 
out dying  ?  But,  what  advantage  could  it  be  to  either  of 
them  to  carry  a  body  with  them  to  heaven,  if  their  souls 
could  act  without  it? 

I  answer,  when  Enoch  and  Elijah  carried  their  bodies 
to  heaven  with  them,  it  was  certainly  a  sublime  honour  and 
a  peculiar  privilege  which  they  enjoyed,  to  have  so  early 
an  happiness  both  in  flesh  and  spirit  conferred  upon  them 
so  many  ages  before  the  rest  of  mankind.  For  though  the 
soul  can  act  without  the  body,  yet  as  a  body  is  part  of  the 
compounded  nature  of  man,  our  happiness  is  not  designed 
to  be  complete  till  the  soul  and  body  are  united  in  a  state 
of  perfection  and  glory  :  and  this  happiness  was  conferred 
early  on  those  two  favourites  of  heaven. 

Object.  IX.  Was  it  not  designed  as  a  favour  when  per- 
sons were  raised  from  the  dead  under  the  Old  Testament 
48  2G  2 


378  ESSAY  TOWARDS  THE  PROOF  OP 

or  the  New,  by  the  Prophets,  by  Christ,  and  by  his  Apos- 
tles ?  But  what  benefit  could  this  be  to  them,  if  they  had 
consciousness  and  enjoyment  in  the  other  world  ?  Was  it 
not  rather  an  injury  to  bring  them  back  from  a  state  of 
happiness  into  such  a  miserable  world  as  this? 

Jlnsw.  1.  Since  these  souls  were  designed  to  be  soon 
restored  to  their  bodies,  and  the  persons  were  to  be  raised 
to  a  mortal  life  again  in  a  few  days,  it  is  probable  they  were 
kept  just  in  the  same  state  of  immemorial  consciousness,  as 
the  soul  is  in  while  the  body  is  in  the  deepest  sleep  ;  and 
so  were  not  immediately  sent  to  heaven  or  hell,  or  deter- 
mined to  a  state  of  sensible  happiness  or  misery.  Then 
when  the  person  was  raised  to  life  again,  there  was  no  re- 
membrance of  the  intermediate  state,  but  all  the  conscious- 
ness of  that  day  or  two  vanished  and  were  forgotten  for  ever, 
as  it  is  with  us  when  we  sleep  soundly  without  dreaming. 

Jlnsw.  2.  If  those  who  were  raised  by  Christ,  or  the 
Prophets,  or  the  Apostles,  were  pious  persons,  they  sub- 
mitted by  the  will  of  God  to  a  longer  continuance  in  this 
world,  amidst  some  difficulties  and  sorrows,  which  submis- 
sion would  be  abundantly  recompehced  hereafter.  If  they 
were  not  good  persons,  their  renewed  life  on  earth  was  a 
reprieve  from  punishment.  So  there  was  no  injury  done 
to  any  of  them. 

As  for  those  who  were  l  raised  at  the  resurrection  of 
Christ,'  and  were  *  seen  by  many  persons  in  the  holy  city,' 
there  is  no  doubt  but  they  were  raised  to  immortality, 
and  ascended  to  heaven  when  Christ  did,  as  part  of  his 
triumphant  attendants,  and  went  to  dwell  with  him  in  the 
heavenly  state. 

•  Object.  X.  If  the  .martyrs  and  confessors  were  to  be 
partakers  of  the  first  resurrection  in  Rev.  xx.  4,  5, 'would 
not  this  be  a  punishment  instead  of  a  blessing,  to  be  csflled 
from  the  immediate  presence  of  God  and  Christ  and  angels, 
to  be  re-united  to  bodies  on  earth  and  dwell  here  again 
with  men  ?  Therefore  it  seems  more  probable,  that  the 
souls  of  these  holy  martyrs  had  no  such  separate  existence 
or  enjoyment  of -happiness. 

Jlnsw.  Perhaps  neither  that  text  nor  any  others  in  the 
Bible  foretell  the  resurrection  of  any  number  of  persons 
to  an  animal  earthly  life  again  in  this  world.  Perhaps  that 
prophecy  means  no  more,  than  that  the  cause  of  Christ 
and  religion,  for  which  men  were  martyred  and  beheaded 


A  SEPARATE  STATE.  379 

heretofore,  shall  rise  again  in  the  world,  and  the  professors 
of  it  in  that  day  shall  IDC  in  flourishing  circumstances  for  a 
thousand  years,  or  a  very  long  seasog.  So  that  in  prophe- 
tic language  these  words  do  not  signify  the  same  individ- 
ual ^martyrs  or  confessors,  but  their  successors  in  the  same 
faith  and  practice. 

Or  if  there  should  be  any  resurrection  of  good  men  to 
an  animal  life  in  this  world,  foretold  by  the  prophets,  and 
intended  by  the  great  and  blessed  God,  I  doubt  not  but 
Ihey  would  be  here  so  far  separated  from  the  wicked 
world  where  sins  and  sorrows  reign,  that  it  would  be  a 
gradual  advance  of  their  happiness  beyond  what  they  en- 
joyed before  in  the  Separate  State. 

Object?  XL  Though  man  is  often  said  to  be  a  com- 
pounded creature  ef  soul  and  body,  yet  in  Scripture  he  is  re- 
presented as  one  being.  It  is  the  man  that  is  born, that  lives, 
that  .sleeps  or  waives,  and  that  rises  from  the  dead.  This 
is  evident  in  many  places  of  Scripture,  where  these  things 
are  spoken  of;  and  it  ssems  to  be  the  latoof  our  nature  or 
being,  that  we  should  always  act  and  live  in  such  a  state 
as  souls  united  to  bodies,  and  never  in  a  state  of  separation. 

*Qnisiv.  Though  there  ere  several  Scriptures  which  re- 
present man  as  one  being,  viz.  soul  and  body  united,  yet 
there  are  many  other  Scriptures  which  have  been  cited  in 
the  former  parts  of  this  essay,  wherein  the  souls  and  the 
bodies  of  men  are  represented  as  two  very  distinct  things. 
The  one  goes  to  the  grave  at  death,  and  the  other  into  Abra- 
ham's bosom,  or  to  a  place  of  torment ;  either  to  dwell 
'with  God,'  to  'be  present  with  Christ  the.  Lord,'  and  to 
become  one  of  the  spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect,  or 
to  go  to  their  own  place  as  Judas  did.  Now  thosfe  texts 
W]UT<:  man  is  represented  as  one  being,  may  be  ex- 
plaJhed  with  very  great  eass,  considering  ;  cle  up 

of  twq  distinct  substances,  viz.  bodv  an;!  spirit  united  into 
one  pvksonal  agent,  as  we  have  -shewn  before.  But  the 
several^bexts'  where  the  soul  and  body  are  so  strongly 
and  j  anguished,  as  has  been  before  represent- 

ed, there  if^no  possible  way  of  representing  these  Scrip- 
tures but  by  supposing  a  Separate  State  of  existence 
for  souls  after  Uie  body  is  dead,  which  makes  it  necessary 
that  this  exposit.kjn  should  take  pine;;. 

Object.  XII.  IIuw  comes  death  to  be  called  so  often  in 
Scripture  a  sleep,  if  the  soul  wakes  all  the  while  ? 


380  AN  ESSAY  TOWARDS  THE  PROOF  OP 

ifrnsw.  Why  is  the  repose  of  man  every  night  called 
sleep,  since  the  soul  wakes,  as  appears  by  a  thousand 
dreams  ?  But  as  a  sleeping  man  ceases  to  act  in  the  busi 
nesses  or  affairs  of  this  world,  though  the  soul  be  not  dead 
or  unthinking,  so  death  is  called  sleep,  because  during  that 
state  men  are  cut  off  from  the  businesses  of  this  world, 
though  the  soul  may  think  and  act  another. 

Object.  XIII.  The  Scripture  speaks  often  of  the  gener 
ral  judgment  of  mankind  at  the  last  great  day  of  the  res- 
urrection, but  it  does  not  teach  us  the  doctrine  of  a  partifc- 
ular  judgment,  which  the  soul  is  supposed  to  pass  under 
when  every  single  man  dies  ;  why  then  should  we  invent 
such  a  supposition,  or  believe  such  a  doctrine  of  a  partic- 
ular judgment  in  a  Separate  State  ? 

Jlnsiv.  It  is  evident  in  many  Scriptures,  as  we  have 
shewn  before,  that  the  souls  of  men  after  death  are  repre- 
sented as  enjoying  pleasure  or  punishment  in  the  Separate 
State.  The  soul  of  Lazarus  in  heaven,  the  soul  of  Dives 
in  hell,  the  soul  of  Paul  as  being  '  present  with  the  Lord, 
which  is  far  better,'  than  dwelling  in  this  flesh,  or  being 
present  with  this  body,  &c.  therefore  there  must  be  a  sort 
of  judgment  or  sentence  of  determination  past  upon  eve- 
ry such  soul  by  the  great  God,  whether  it  shall  be  happy 
or  miserable  :  for  it  can  never  be  supposed  that  happiness 
or  misery  should  be  given  to  such  souls  without  the  de- 
termination of  God  the  Judge  of  all.  And  perhaps  that 
text  Heb.  ix.  27,  refers  to  it,  "it  is  appointed  unto  men 
once  to  die,  but  after  this  the  judgment:"  i.  e.  immedi- 
ately after  it. 

Or  suppose  that  in  the  Separate  State  the  pleasures  or 
sorrows,  which  attend  souls  departing  from  the  body, 
should  be  only  such  as  are  the  necessary  consequents  of  a 
life  spent  in  the  practice  of  vice  or  of  virtue,  of  religion  or 
ungodliness,  without  any  formalities  of  standing  before 
a  judgment-seat,  or  a  solemn  sentence  of  absolution  or 
condemnation  :  yet  the  very  entrance  upon  this  state,  whe- 
ther it  be  of  peace  or  of  torment,  must  be  supposed  to  sig- 
nify, that  the  state  of  that  soul  is  adjudged  or/letermined 
by  the  great  Governor  of  the  world  :  and  this  is  all  that  is 
necessarily  meant  by  a  particular  judgment  of  each  soul  at 
death,  whether  it  pass  under  the  solemn  formalities  of  a 
judgment  and  a  tribunal  or  not. 

Object.  XIV.  If  the  saints  can  be  happy  without  a  bo- 


A  SEPARATE  STATE.  381 

dy,  what  need  of  a  resurrection  ?  Let  the  body  be  as  re- 
fined, as  active,  as  it  can  be,  still  it  must  certainly  be  a  clog 
to  the  soul  ;  and  this  was  the  objection  that  the  heathen 
philosophers  made  to  tLe  doctrine  of  the  resurrection, 
which  the  Christians  profess ;  for  the  philosophers  told 
them,  this  resurrection,  which  they  called  their  highest 
reward,  was  really  a  punishment. 

*Answ.  The  force  of  this  objection  has  been,  quite  taken 
away  before,  when  it  has  been  shewn  that  man,  being  a 
creature  compounded  of  body  and  spirit,  was  designed  for 
its  highest  happiness,  and  the  perfection  of  its  nature  in 
this  state  of  unio.i,  and-  not  in  a  state  of  separation.  And 
let  it  be  observed,'  that  when  the  body  shall  be  raised 
from  the  grave,  it  shall  not  be  such  flesh  and  blood  as  we 
now  wear,  nor  made  up  of  such  materials,  as  shall  clog  or 
obstruct  the  soul  in  any  of  its  most  vigorous  and  divine 
exercises;  but  it  shall  be  a  "  spiritual  body,"  1  Cor.  xv.  44, 
a  body  fitted  to  serve  a  holy  and  glorififed  spirit  in  its  ac- 
tions and  it's  enjoyments,  and  to  render  the  spirit  capable 
of  some  further  excellencies,  both  of  action  and  enjovment, 
than  it  is  naturally  capa'jle  of  without  a  body.  What 
sort  of  qualities  this  new-raised  body  shall  be  endued 
with,  in  order  to  increase  the  excellency  or  the  happiness 
of  pious  souls,  will  be,  in  a  great  measure,  a  mystery  or 
a  secret,  till  that  blessed  morning  appears. 

Object.  XV.  Is  not  our  immortclity  in  Scripture  des- 
cribed as  built  upon  the  incorruptible  state  of  onr  new- 
raised  bodies?  1  Cor.  xv.  53,  "vfhis  corruptible  must 
put  on  incorruption,  and  this  mortal  must  put  on  immor- 
tality :"  but  the  doctrine  of  the  immortality  of  the  soul 
is  not  particularly  found  or  tafflght  in  Scripture. 

Answ.  It  is  granted  that  the  immortality  of  the  'new 
raised-  body'  is  built  on  that  incorruptible  sort  of  mate- 
rials of  which  it  is  to  be  formed,  or  which  shall  be 
mingled  with  it,  or  the  incorruptible  qualities  which  shall 
be  given  to  it  by  God  himself:  but  Ihe  soul  is  immortal 
in  itself,  whether  with  or  without  a  body  :  and  he  that 
can  read  all  those  texts  of  Scripture  which  have  been 
before  made  use  of  in  this  essay,  wiierein  the  existence 
of  the  spirit  after  the  death  of  the  body  is  so  plainly  ex- 
pressed, and  cannot  find  the  '  immortality  of  the  soul' 
in  them,  or  the  l  spirit's  capacity  of  existence  in  a  Sepa- 
rate State  from  the  body,'  must  be  left  to  his  own  senti- 


382  ESSAY  TOWARDS  THE  PROOF  &C. 

-*' 

ments  to  explain  and  verify  the  expressions  of  Christ  and 
his  Apostles  some  other  way  ;  or  he  must  acknowledge 
that  these  expressions  are  somewhat  uncautious  and  dan- 
gerous, since  it  is  evident  they  lead  thousands  and  ten 
thousands  of  wise  and  sober  readers  into  this  sentiment 
of  the  soul's  immortality. 

Whether  the  soul  in  its  own  nature  be  necessarily  im- 
mortal, is  a  point  of  philosophy,  and  not  to  be  sought  for 
directly  in  Scripture  :  But  whether  the  great  God,  the 
Governor  of  the  world,  has  not  appointed  souls  to  exist  in 
a  Separate  State  of  happiness  or  misery  after  the  'bodies 
are  dead,  seems  to  me  to  be  so  plainly  determined  in  ma- 
ny of  the  Scriptures  which  have  been  'cited,  as  leaves  no 
sufficient  reason  to  doubt  the  truth  of  it. 

To  conclude,  though  I  think  the  doctrine  of  the  Sepa- 
rate State  of  souls  to  be  of  much  importance  in  Christian- 
ity, and  that  the  denial  of  it  carries  great  inconveniences, 
and  weakens  the  motive  to  virtue  and  piety,  by  putting 
off  all  mannerof  rewards  and  punishments  to  such  a  dis- 
tance as  the  general  resurrection,  yet  I  dare  not  contend 
for  it  as  a  matter  of  such  absolute  necessity,  that  a  man 
cannot  be  a  Christian  without  it.  But  this  must  be  con- 
fessed, that  they  who  deny  this  doctrine  seem  to  have 
need  of  stronger  inward  zeal  to  guard  them  against  temp- 
tation, and  to  keep  their  hearts  always  alive  and  watchful 
to  God  and  religion,  since  their  motives  to  strict  piety  and 
virtue  are  sensibly  weakened,  by  renouncing  all  belief  of 
this  nearer  and  more  immediate  commencement  of  heaven 
and  hell. 


APPENDIX. 


THE  following  poems,  selected  from  Dr.  Watts'  Horse  Ly- 
ricse,  it  is  believed,  will  not  be  unacceptable  to  the  Reader, 
since  they  present  some  trains  of  thought  connected  with  the 
subjects  discussed  in  the  preceding  DISCOURSES,  in  which  poe- 
try, elevated  by  devotional  feeling,  soothes  the  imagination, 
while  it  affects  the  heart. — ED. 


EARTH  AND  HEAVEN. 

HAST  thou  not  seen,  impatient  boy, 

Hast  thou  not  read,  the  solemn  truth, 
That  grey  experience  writes  for  giddy  youth 

On  ev'ry  mortal  joy  ? 
Pleasure  must  be  dashed  with  pain  : 

And  yet,  with  heedless  haste, 

The  thirsty  boy  repeats  the  taste, 
Nor  hearkens  to  despair,  but  tries  the  bowl  again. 
The  rills  of  pleasure  never  run  sincere  : 

(Earth  has  no  unpolluted  spring:) 
From  the  curs'd  soil  some  dang'rous  taint  they  bear ; 
So  roses  grow  on  thorns,  aad  honey  wears  a  sting. 

In  vain  we  seek  a  heav'n  below  the  sky ; 
The  world  has  false  but  flatt'ring  charms; 
Its  distant  joys  shew  big  in  our  esteem, 
But  lessen  still  as  they  draw  near  the  eye. 
In  our  embrace  the  visions  die ; 
And,  when  we  grasp  the  airy  forms, 
We  lose  the  pleasing  dream. 

383 


384  APPENDIX. 

Earth,  with  her  scenes  of  gay  delight. 

Is  but  a  landscape  rudely  drawn, 
V/ith  glaring  colours  and  false  light; 
Distance  commends  it  to  the  sight, 

For  fools  to  gaze  upon ; 
But,  bring  the  nauseous  daubing  nigh, 
Coarse  and  confus'd  the  hideous  figures  lie, 
Dissol  ve  the  pleasure,  and  offend  the  eye. 

Look  up,  my  soul !  pant  tow'rd  th'  eternal  hills  ; 

Those  heav'ns  are  fairer  than  they  seem; 
There  pleasures  all  sincere  glide  on  in  crystal  rills  J 

There  not  a  dreg  of  ^uilt  defiles, 
Nor  grief  disturbs,  the  stream. 

That  Canaan  knows  no  noxious  thing, 

No  cursed  soil,  no  tainted  spring, 
Nor  roses  grow  on  thorns,  nor  honey  wears  a  sting. 


DEATH  AND  ETERNITY. 

MY  thoughts,  that  often  mount  the  skies, 

Go  search  the  world  beneath, 
Where  nature  all  in  ruin  lies, 

And  owns  her  sov'reign,  Death. 

The  tyrant,  how  he  triumphs  here  ! 

His  trophies  spread  around  ! 
And  heaps  of  dust  and  bones  appear 

Through  all  the  hollow  ground. 

These  sculls,  what  ghastly  figures  now  ! 

How  loathsome  to  the  eyes ! 
These  are  ihe  heads  we  lately  knew 

So  beauteous  and  so  wise. 

But  where  the  souls,  those  deathless  things 

That  left  this  dying  clay  ? 
My  thoughts,  now  stretch  out  all  your  wings, 

And  trace  eternity. 

0  that  unfathomable  sea ! 
Those  deeps  without  a  shore, 


APPENDIX.  385 

Where  living  waters  gently  play, 
Or  fiery  billows  roar. 

Thus  must  we  leave  the  hanks  of  life, 

And  try  this  doubtful  sea  ; 
Vain. are  our  groans,  and  dying  strife, 

To  gain  a  moment's  stay. 

There  we  shall  swim  in  heav'nly  bliss, 

Or  sink  in  flaming  waves, 
While  the  pale  carcase  thoughtless  lies 

Amongst  the  silent  graves. 

Some  hearty  friend  shall  drop  his  tear 

On  our  dry  bones,  and  say  : 
"  These  once  wert  strong,  as  mine  appear, 

And  mine  must  be  as  they." 

Thus  shall  our  mould'ring  members  teach 

What  now  our  senses  learn  : 
For  dust  and  ashes  loudest  preach  ' 

Man's  infinite  concern. 


THE  ATHEIST'S  MISTAKE. 

LAUGH,  ye  profane,  and  swell  and  burst 

With  bold  impiety ; 
Yet  shall  ye  live,  for  ever  curs'd, 

And  seek  in  vain  to  die. 

The  gasp  of  your  expiring  breath 
Consigns  your  souls  to  chains, 

By  the  last  agonies  of  death 
Sent  down  to  fiercer  pains. 

Ye  stand  upon  a  dreadful  steep, 

And  all  beneath  is  hell ; 
Your  weighty  guilt  will  sink  you  deep 

Where  the  old  serpent  fell. 

When  iron  slumbers  bind  your  flesh, 

With  strange  surprise  you'll  find 
Immortal  vigour  spring  afresh, 
And  tortures  wake  the  mind ! 
40  2H 


386  APPENDIX. 

Then  you'll  confess,  the  frightful  names 
Of  plagues,  you  scorn'd  before, 

NJO  more  shall  look  like  idle  dreams, 
Like  foolish  tales  no  more. 

Then  shall  ye  curse  that  fatal  day, 

(With  flames  upon  your  tongues,) 
'When  you  exchang-'d  your  souls  away- 
For  vanity  and  songs. 

Behold,  the  saints  rejoice  to  die, 
For  heav'n  shines  round  their  heads, 

And  angel-guards,  prepar'd  to  fly, 
Attend  their  fainting  beds. 

Their  longing  spirits  part,  and  rise 

To  their  celestial  seat ; 
Above  these  ruinable  skies 

They  make  their  last  retreat. 

Hence,  ye  profane  !  I  hate  your  ways, 

I  walk  with  pious  souls  ; 
There's  a  wide  diif 'rence  in  our  race, 

And  distant  are  our  goals. 

.    THE  WELCOME  MESSENGER. 

LORD,  when  we  see  a  saint  of  thine, 
Lie  gasping  out  his  breath, 

With  longing  eyes,  and  looks  divine, 
Smiling  and  pleas'u  in  death ; 

How  we  could  e'en  contend  to  lay 

Our  limbs  upon  that  bed  ! 
We  ask  thine  envoy  to  convey 

Our  spirits  in  his  stead. 

Our  souls  are  rising  on  the  wing 

To  venture  in  his  place  ; 
For  when  grim  death  has  lost  his  sting, 

He  has  an  angel's  face. 

Jesus,  then  purge  my  crimes  away, 
'Tis  guilt  creates  my  fears, 


APPENDIX.  387 


'Tis  guilt  giv.es  death  its  fierce,  array, 
And  all  the  arms  it  bears. . 

Oh !  if  my  threat'riing  eins  were  gone, 
And  death  had  lost  hjs  sting, 

I  could  invite  the  angel  on, 
And  chide  his  lazy  wing. 

Away  tkese  interposing  days, 

And  let  the  lovers  meet ; 
The  angel  has  a  cold  embrace, 

But  kind,  a"nd  soft,  and  sweet : 

I'd  leap  at  once  my  seventy  years, 

I'd  rush  into  his  arms, 
And  lose  my  breath,  and  all  my  cares, 

Amidst  those  heav'nly  charms. 

Joyful  I'd  lay  this  body  down,       ^  • 

And  leave'the  lifeless  clay, 
Without  a  sigh,  without  a  groan, 
•  And  stretch  and  soar  away. 


THE  FAREWELL. 

DEAD  be  my  heart  to  all  below, 
To  mortal  joys  and  mortal  cares; 

To  sensual  bliss,  that  charms  us  so, 
Be  dark,  my  eyes,  and  deaf,  my  ears. 

Here  I  renounce  my  carnal  taste   . 

Of'the  fair  fruit  that  sinners  prize" : 
Their  paradise  shall  never  waste 

One  thought  of  mine,  but  to  despise. 

All  earthly  joys  are  ov'er-weigh'd 
With  mountains  of  vexatious  care ; 

And  where's  the  sweet  that  is  not  laid 
A  bait  to  some  destructive  snare  ? 

Be  gone  for  ever,  mortal  things  ! 

Thou  mighty  mole- hill,  earth,  farewell ! 
Angels.aspire  on  lofty  wings, 

And  leave  the  globe  for  ants  to  dwell. 


388  '  APPENDIX. 

Come,  heaven,  and  fill  my  vast  desires, 
My  soul  pursues  the  sov'reign  good  : 

She  was  all  made  of  heav'nly  fires, 
Nor  can  she  live  on  meaner  food. 


LAUNCHING  INTO  ETERNITY. 

IT  was  a  brave  attemp*  '  xi\  venturous  he, 
Who  in  the  first  ship  broke  the. unknown  sea: 
And,  leaving  his  dear  native  shores  behind, 
Trusted  his  life  to  the  licentious  -wind. 
I  see  the  surging  brine :  the  tempest  raves  : 
He  on  a  pine-plank  rides  across  the  waves, 
Exulting  on  the  edge  of  thousand  gaping  graves: 
He  steers  the  winged  boat,  and  shifts  the  sails,  • 
Conquers  the  flood,  and  manages  the  gales: 

Such  is  the  soul  that  leavQS  this  mortal  land, 
Fearless,  when  the  great  Master  gives  command  ! 
Death  is  the  storm  :  she  smiles  to  hear  it  roar, 
And  bids  the  tempest  waft  her  from  the  shore : 
Then  with  a  skilful  helm  she  sweeps  the  seas, 
And  manages  the  raging  storm  with  ease; 
"  Her  faith  can  govern  death  ;"  she-spreads  her  wings 
Wide  to  the  wind,  and  as  she  sails  she  sings, 
And  loses  by  degrees  the  sight  of  mortal  things. 
As  the  shores  lessen,  so  her  joys  arise,  • 
The  waves  roll  gentler,  and  the  tempest  dies. 
Now  vast  eternity  fills  all  her  sigh't, 
She  floats  on  the  broad  deep  with  infinite  delight, 
The  seas  for  ever  calm,  the  skies  for  ever  bright ! 

HAPPY  FRAlf/TY. 

"  How  meanry  .dwells  th'  immortal  mind ! 

How  vile  these  bodies  are  ! 
Why  was  a  clod  of  earth  design'd 

T'  enclose  a  heav'nly  star  ? 

"  Weak  cottage  where  our  souls  reside  ! 

This  flesh  a  tott'ring  wall  ; 
With  frightful  breaches,  gaping  wide, 

The  building  bends  to  fall. 


APPENDIX.  389 

"  All  roun<i,  it  storms  of  trouble  blow, 

And  waves  of  sorrow  roll ; 
Cold  waves  and  winter-storms  beat  through, 

And  pain  the  tenant-soul, 
i 

"  Alaa!  how  frail  our  state  !  "  said  I ; 

And  thus  went  mourning  on, 
Till  sudden,  from  the  cleaving  sky, 

A  gleam  of  glory  shone. 

My  soul  all  felt  the  glory  come,_ 

And  breath'd  her  native  air  ; 
Then  she  remernber'd  heaven  her  home, 

And  she  a  pris'ner  here. 

Strait  she  began  to  change  her  key 

And  joyful  in  her  pains, 
She  sang  the  frailty  of  her  clay 

In  pleasurable  strains. 

"  How  weak  the  pris'n  is  where  I  dwell ! 

Flesh  but  a  tott'ring  wall ! 

The  breaches  cheerfully  foretel, 

.  The  house  must  shortly  fall. 

"  No  more,  my  friends,  shall  I  complain, 

Though  all  my  heart-strings  ache  ; 
Welcome,  disease,  and  every  pain, 

That  makes  the  cottage  shake. 

"  Now  let  the  tempest  blow  all  round, 

Now  swell  the  surges  high, 
And  beat  this  house  of  bondage  down, 

To  let  the  stranger  fly. 

"^B   , 
"  1  have  a  mansion  built  above 

By  the  eternal  Hand ; 
And,  should  the  earth's  old  basis  move, 

My  heav'nly  house. must  stand. 

• 

"  Yes,  for  'tis  there  my  Saviour  reigns, 

(I  long  to  see  the  GOD,) 
And  his  immortal,  strength  sustains 

The  courts  that  cost  him  blood  !" 
2n2 


390  APPENDIX, 

Hark,  from  on  high  my  Saviour  calls : 
"  I  come,  my  LORD,  my  LOVE  :" 

Devotion  breaks  the  prison-walls, 
And  speeds  my  last  remove. 


THE  DAY  OF  JUDGMENT. 

WHEN  the  fierce  north  wind  with  his  airy  forces 

Rears  up  the  Baltic  to  a  foaming  fury ; 

And  the  red  lightning,  with  a  storm  of  hail,  comes 

Rushing  amain  down : 

How  the  poor  sailors  stand  amaz'd  and  tremble  ! 
While  the  hoarse  thunder,  like  a  bloody  trumpet, 
Roars  a  loud  onset  to  the  gaping  waters, 

Quick  to  devour  them  ! 

Such  shall  the  noise  be,  and  the  wild  disorder, 
(If  things  eternal  may  be  like  these  earthly,) 
Such  the  dire  terror,  when  the  great  arch-angel 

Shakes  the  creation : 

Tears  the  strong  pillars  of  the  vault  of  heaven, 
Breaks  up  old  marble,  the  repose  of  princes ; 
See  the  graves  open,  and  the  bones  arising, 

Flames  all  around  'em  ! 

Hark,  the  shrill  outcries  of  the  guilty  wretches  ! 
Lively  bright  horror,  and  amazing  anguish, 
Stare  through  their  eye-lids,  while  the  living  worm  lies 
Gnawing  within  them. 

Thoughts,  like  old  vultures,  prey  upon  their  heart-strings, 
And  the  smart  twinges,  when  their  eye  beholds  the 
Lofty  judge  frowning,  and  a  flood  of  vengeance 
Rolling  afore  him. 

Hopeless  immortals  !  how  they  scream  and  shiver, 
While  devils  push  them  to  the  pit  wide-yawning, 
Hideous  and  gloomy,  to  receive  them  headlong 

Down  to  the  centre  ! 


APPENDIX.  391 

Stop  here,  my  fancy  :  (all  away,  ye  horrid 

Doleful  ideas,)  come,  arise  to  JESUS  ! 

How  he  sits  God-like  !  and  the  saints  around  him 

Thron'd,  yet  adoring ! 

O  may  I  sit  there  when  he  comes  triumphant, 
Dooming  the  nations  !  then  ascend  to  glory, 
While  our  hosannas,  all  along  the  passage, 

'  Shout  the  Redeemer  ! 


A  PROSPECT  OF  THE  RESURRECTION. 

How  long  shall  Death,  the  tyrant,  reign 

And  triumph  o'er  the  just, 
While  the  rich  blood  of  martyrs  slain 

Lies  mingled  with  the  dust  ? 

When-  shall  the  tedious  might  be  gone  1 

When  will  our  LORD  appear  < 
Our  fond  desires  would  pray  him  down 

Our  love  embrace  him  here. 

. 
Let  faith  arise  and  climb  the  hills, 

And  from  afar  descry 
How  distant  are  his  chariot-wheels, 
And  tell  how  fast  they  fly, 

Lo,  I  behold  the  scatt'ring  shades, 

The  dawn  of  heav'n  appears, 
The  sweet  immortal  mornfng  spreads 

Its  blushes  round  the  spheres. 

I  see  the  LORD  of  Glory  come, 
And  flaming  guards  around  :   • 

The  skies  divide  to  make  him  room, 
The  trumpet  shakes  the  ground. 

I  hear  the  voice,  "Ye  dead,  arise'! 

And,  lo,  the  graves  obey, 
And  waking  saints,  with  joyful  eyes, 

Salute  th'  expected  day,    • 

They  leave  the  dust,  and  on  the  wing 
Rise  to  the  middle  air, 


392  APPENDIX. 

In  shining  garments  meet  their  king, 

And  low  adore  him  there. 

• 

O  may  my  humble  spirit  stand 

Amongst  them,  cloth'd  in  white  ! 
The  meanest. place  at  his  right  hand 
Is  infinite  delight. 

How  will  our  joy  and  wonder  rise, 

When  our  returning  King 
Shall  bear  us  homeward  through  the  skies 

On  love's  triumphant  wing. 

A  SIGHT  OF  HEAVEN  IN  SICKNESS 

OFT  have  I  sat  in  secret  sighs 
To  feel  my  flesh  decay  ;  • 

Then  groan'd  aloud,  with  frighted  eyes, 
To  ,view  the  tott'ring  clay. 

But  I  forbid  my  sorrows  now, 
Nor  dares  the  flesh  complain  ; 

Diseases  bring  their  profits  too, 
The  joy  o'ercomes  the  pain. 

My  cheerful  soul  now  all  the  day 
Sits  waiting  here,  and  sings ; 

Looks  through  the  ruins  of  her  clay, 
And  practises  her.  wings. 

Faith  almost  changes  into  sight, 

While  from  afar  she  spies 
Her  fair  inheritance  in  light 
.  .  Above  preated  skies. 

Had  but  the  prison-walls  been  strong, 

And  firm  without  a  flaw, 
In  darkness  she  had  dwelt  too  long, 

And  less  of  glory  saw. 

But  now  the  everlasting  hills 
Through  ev'ry  chink  appear, 

And  something  of  the  joy  she  feels 
While  she's  a  pris'ner  here. 


AP.PENDIX.  393 

The  shines  of  heav'n  rush  sweetly  in 

At  all  4he  gaping  flaws ; 
Visions  of  endless  bliss  are  seeji, 

And  native  air  she  draws. 

0  may  these  walls  stand  totf.'ring  still, 

The  breaches  never  close,  • 
If  I  must  herein  darkness  dwell, 
And  ah  this  glory  lose  ! 

•  , 

Or  rather  let  this  flesh  decay, 

The  ruins  wider  grow,  » 

Till,  glad  to  see  .th'  enlarged  way, 
•I stretch  ray  pinions  through. 


FELICITY  ABOVE. 

No,  'tis  in  vain  to  seek  for  bliss ; 

For  bliss  can  ne'er  be  found 
Till  we  arrive  where  JESUS  is, 

And  tread  on  Jieav'nly  ground. 

There's  nothing  round  these  painted  skies, 

Or  round  this  dusty  clod, 
Nothing,  my  soul,  that's  worth  thy  joys, 

Or  lovely  as  thy  GOD. 

'Tis  heav'n  on  earth  to  taste  his  love, 
To  feel  his  quick'ning  grace.; 

And  all  the  heav'n  I  hope  above 
Is  but  to  see  his  face. 

Why  move  my  years  in  slow  delay  7 

0  GOD  of  ages!  why? 
Let  the  sphere  cleave,  and  mark  my  way 

To  the  superior  sky. 

Dear  Sov'reign,  break  these  vital  strings 

That  bind  me  to  my  clay  ; 
Take  me,  URIEL,  on  thy  wings, 

And  stretch  and  soar  away. 
50 


394  APPENDIX. 

THE  PRESENCE  OF  GOD  WORTH  DYING  FOR: 
OR,  THE  DEATH  OP  MOSES. 

LORD,  'tis  an  infinite  delight 

To  see  thy  lovely  face, 
To  dwell  whole  ages  in  thy  sight, 

And  feel  thy  vital  rays. 

This  Gabriel  knows,  and  sings  thy  name 

With  rapture  on  his  tongue ; 
Moses  the  saint  enjoys  the  same,    t 

And  heav'n. repeats  the  song. 

While  the  bright  natioa  sounds  thy  praise 

From  each  eternal  hill,  * 
Sweet  odours  of  exhaling  grace 

The  happy  region  fill. 

Thy  love,  a  sea  without  a  shore, 

Spreads  life  and  joy  abroad  ; 
O  'tis  a  heav'n  worth  dying  for, 

To  see  a  smiling  GOD  ! 

Shew  me  thy  face,  and  I'll  away 

From  all  inferior  things  ; 
Speak,  LORD,  and  here  I  quit  my  clay, 

And  stretch  my  airy  wings. 

Sweet  was  fhe  journey  to  the  sky 
; '..  '     The  wond'rous  prophet  tried ; 
"  Climb  up  the  mount,"  says  GOD,  "and  die:" 
The  prophet  climb'd  and  died. 

Softly  his  fainting  head  he  lay 

Upon  his  Maker's  breast, 
His  Maker  kiss'd  his  soul  away, 

And  laid  his  flesh  to  rest. 

In  GOD'S  own  arms  he  left  the  breath 

That  GOD'S  own  spirit' gave ; 
His  was  the  noblest  road  to  death, 

And  his  the  sweetest  grave. 


APPENDIX.  395 

GOD'S  DOMINION  AND  DECREES. 

KEEP  Silence,  all  created  things 

And  wait  your.  Maker's  nod; 
The  muse  stands  trembling  while  she  sings 

The  honours  of  her  GOD. 

Life,  death,  and  hell,  and  worlds  unknown, 

Hang  on  his  firm  decree  : 
He  sits  on  no  precarious  throne, 

Nor  borrows  leave  to  be. 

Th'  almighty  Toice  bade  ancient  night 

Her  endless  realms  resign ; 
And,  lo,  ten  thousand  globes  of  light 

In  fields  of  azure  shine. 

Now  wisdom,  with  superior  sway, 

Guides  the  vast  moving  frame, 
Whilst  all  the  ranks  of  beings  pay 

Deep  rev'rence  to  his  name. 

He  spake  :  The  sun  obedient  stood, 

And  held  the  falling  day: 
Old  Jordan  backward  drives  his  flood, 

And  disappoints  the  sea. 

Lord  of  the  armies  of  the  sky, 

He  marshals  all  the  stars : 
Red  comets  lift  their  banners  high, 

And  wide  proclaim  his  wars. 

Chain'd  to  the  throne,  a  volume  lies, 

With  all  the  fates  of  men, 
With  ov'ry  angel's  form  and  size, 

Drawn  by  th'  eternal  pen. 

His  providence  unfolds  the  book, 

And  makes  his  counsels  shine  : 
Each  op'ning  leaf,  and  ev'ry  stroke, 

Fulfils-  some  deep  design. 

Here  he  exalts  neglected  worms 
To  scepters  and  a  crown , 


386  APPENDIX. 

Anon  the  following  page  he  turns, 
And  treads  the  monarch  down. 

Not  Gabriel  asks  the  reason  why 
Nor  GOD,  the  reason  gives ; 

Nor  dares  the  fav'rite  angel  pry 
Between  the  folded  leaves. 

My  GOD,  I  never  long'd  to  see 
My  fate  with  curious  eyes ; 

What  gloomy  lines  are  writ  forme, 
Or  what  bright  scenes  shall  rise. 

In  thy  fair  book  of  Life  end  grace 
May  I  but  find  my  name, 

Recorded,  in  some  humble  place, 
Beneath  my  LORD,  the  LAMB  ! 


THE  INCOMPREHENSIBLE. 

FAR  in  the  heav'ns  my  GOD  retires 
My  GOD,  the  mark  of  my  desires, 

And  hides  his  lovely  face. 
When  he  descends  within  my  view, 
He  charms  my  reason  to  pursue, 
But  leaves  it  tir'd  and  fainting  in  th'  unequal  chace. 

Or,  if  I  reach  unusual  height, 

Till  near  his  presence  brought, 
There  floods  of  glory  check  my  flight. 
Cramp  the  bold  pinions  of  my  wit, 

And  all  untune  my  thought ; 
Plung'd  in  a  sea  of  light  I  roll, 
Where  Wisdom,  Justice,  Mercy,  shines 

Infinite  rays,  in  crossing  lines, 
Beat  thick  confusion  on  my  sight,  and  overwhelm  my  aoul. 

Come  to  my  aid,  ye  fellow-minds, 

And  help  me  reach  tl.e  throne ; 
(What  single  strength  in  vaia  designs 

United  force  hath  done ; 


APPENDIX.  397 

Thus  worms  may  join,  and  grasp  the  poles, 

Thus  atoms  fill  the  sea ;) 
But  the  whole  race  of  creature-souls, 
Stretch'd  to  their  last  extent  of  thought,  plunge  and  are  lost 
in  thee. 

Great  GOD,  behold,  my  reason  lies 
Adoring,  yet  my  love  would  rise 

On  pinions  not  her  own. 
Faith  shall  direct  her  humble  flight, 
Through  all  the  trackless  seas  of  light, 
To  thee,  th'  eternal  Fair,  the  infinite  Unknown ! 


TRUE  WISDOM. 

PRONOUNCE  him  blest,  my  muse,  whom  WISDOM  guides 
In  her  own  path  to  her  own  heav'nly  seat ; 
Through  all  the  storms  his  soul  securely  glides, 

Nor  can  the  tempests,  nor  the  tides, 
That  rise  and  roar  around,  supplant  his  steady  feet. 

Earth,  you  may  let  your  golden  arrows  fly, 
And  seek  in  vain  a  passage  to  his  breast, 
Spread  all  your  painted  toys  to  court  his  eye, 

He  smiles,  and  sees  them  vaimy  try 
To  lure  his  soul  aside  from  her  eternal  rest. 

Our  head-strong  lusts,  like  a  young  fiery  horse, 

Start,  and  flee  raging  in  a  violent  course ; 

He  tames  and  breaks  them,  manages  and  rides  'em, 

Checks  their  career,  and  turns  and  guides  'em, 
And  bids  his  reason  bridle  their  licentious  force. 

Lord  of  himself,  he  rules  his  wildest  thoughts. 
And  boldly  acts  what  calmly  he  design'd, 
While  he  looks  down  and  pities  human  faults ; 

Nor  can  he  think,  nor  can  he  find, 
A  plague  like  reigning  passions,  and  a  subject  mind 

But,  oh !  'tis  mighty  toil  to  reach  this  height, 
To  vanquish  self  ;s  a  laborious  art; 
What  manly  courage  to  sustain  the  fight, 
21 


398  APPENDIX. 

To  bear  the  noble  pain,  and  part 
With  those  dear  charming  tempters  rooted  in  the  heart 

TIB -hard  to  stand  when  all  the  passions  move, 
Hard  to  awake  the  eye  that  passion  blinds, 
To  rend  and  tear  out  this  unhappy  love, 
That  clings  so  close  about  our  minds, 
And  where  th'  enchanted  soul  so  sweet  a  poison  finds. 

Hard ;  but  it  may  be  done.     Come,  heav'nly  fire, 
Home  to  my  breast,  and  with  one  pow'rful  ray 
Melt  off  my  lusts,  my  fetters  :  I  can  bear 

A  while  to  be  a  tenant  here, 
But  not  be  chai-n'd  and  prison'd  in  a  cage  of  clay, 

Heav'n  is  my  home  and  I  must  use  my  wings ; 
Sublime  above  the  globe  my  flight  aspires  : 
I  have  a  soul  was  made  to  pity  kings, 
And  all  their  little  glittering  things : 
I  have  a  soul  was  made  for  infinite  desires. 

Loos'd  from  the  earth,  my  heart  is  upward  flown ; 
Farewell,  my  friends,  and  all  that  once  was  mine ; 
Now,  should  you  fix  my  feet  on  Caesar's  throne, 

Crown  me,  and  call  the  world  my  own, 
The  gold  that  binds  my  brows  could  ne'er  my  soul  confine 

I  am  the  LORD'S  and  JESUS  is  my  love; 
He,  the  dear  GOD,  shall  fill  my  vast  desire, 
My  flesh  below ;  yet  I  can  dwell  above, 

And  nearer  to  my  Saviour  move ; 
There  all  my  soul  shall  centre,  all  my  pow'rs  conspire. 

Thus  I  with  angels  live ;  thus,  half  divine, 
I  sit  on  high,  nor  mind  inferior  joys  : 
Fill'd  with  his  love,  I  feel  that  GOD  is  mine, 

His  glory  is  my  great  design, 
That  everlasting  project  all  my  thoughts  employs. 


APPENDIX.  399 

CHRIST  DYING,  RISING,  AND  REIGNING. 

HE  dies  !  the  heav'nly  Lover  dies ! 
The  tidings  strike  a  doleful  sound 
On  my  poor  heart-strings  :  Deep  he  lies 
In  the  cold  caverns  of  the  ground  ! 

Come,  saints,  and  drop  a  tear  or  two 
On  the  dear  bosom  of  your  GOD  ; 
He  sheds  a  thousand  drops  for  you, 
A  thousand  drops  of  richer  blood  ! 

Here's  love  and  grief  beyond  degree, 
The  LORD  of  glory  dies  for  men ! 
But,  lo,  what  sudden  joys  I  see! 
JESUS  the  dead  revives  again. 

The  rising  GOD  forsakes  the  tomb, 
Up  to  his  Father's  court  he  flies ; 
Cherubic  legions  guard  him  home 
And  shout  him  welcome  to  the  skies. 

Break  off  your  tears,  ye  saints,  and  tell 
How  high  our  great  deliv'rer  reigns ; 
Sing  how  he  spoil'd  the  hosts  of  hell, 
And  led  the  monster  Death  in  chains. 

Say,  '•  Live  for  ever,  wond'rous  King ! 
Born  to  redeem,  and  strong  to  save !" 
Then  ask  the  monster,  "  Where's  his  sting] 
"  And  where's  thy  victory,  boasting  grave  1" 

THE  SONG  OF  ANGELS  ABOVE. 

EARTH  has  detain'd  me  prisoner  long, 

And  I'm  grown  weary  now : 
My  heart,  my  hand,  my  ear,  my  tongue, 

There's  nothing  here  for  you. 

Tir'd  in  my  thoughts,  I  stretch  me  down, 

And  upward  glance  mine  eyes ; 
Upward,  my  Father,  to  thy  throne, 

And  to  my  native  skies. 


400  APPENDIX. 

There  the  dear  MAN,  my  Saviour,  sits, 
The  GOD,  how  bright  he  shines ! 

And  scatters  infinite  delights 
On  all  the  happy  minds. 

Seraphs,  with  elevated  strains, 

Circle  the  throne  around, 
And  move  and  charm  the  starry  plains 

With  an  immortal  sound. 

JESUS,  the  LORD,  their  harps  employs, 
JESUS,  my  love,  they  sing ; 

JESUS,  the  name  of  both  our  joys, 
Sounds  sweet  from  ev'ry  string. 

Hark,  how,  heyond  the  narrow  bounds 
Of  time  and  space,  they  run, 

And  speak,  in  most  majestic  sounds, 
The  godhead  of  the  SON. 

How  on  the  Father's  breast  he  lay, 

The  darling  of  his  soul, 
Infinite  years  before  the  day 

Or  heavens  began  to  roll. 

And  now  they  sink  the  lofty  tone, 
And  gentler  notes  they  play, 

And  bring  th'  eternal  Godhead  down 
To  dwell  in  humble  clay. 

O  sacred  beauties  of  the  MAN  ! 

(The  GOD  resides  within  ;) 
His  flesh  all  pure,  without  a  stain, 

His  soul  without  a  sin. 

Then,  how  he  look'd  and  how  he  smil'd, 
What  wond'rous  things  he  said  ! 

Sweet  cherubs,  stay,  dwell  here  a  while, 
And  tell  what  JESUS  did. 

At  his  command  the  blind  awake 
And  feel  the  gladsome  rays  ; 

He  bids  the  dumb  attempt  to  speak, 
They  try  their  tongues  in  praise. 


APPENDIX.  401 

He  shed  a  thousand  blessings  round 

Where'er  he  turn'd  his  eye; 
He  spoke,  and,  at  the  sov'reign  sound, 
The  hellish  legions  fly. 

Thus,  while,  with  unambitious  strife, 

Th'  ethereal  minstrels  rove 
Through  all  the  labours  of  his  life, 

And  wonders  of  his  love : 

In  the  full  choir  a  broken  string 

Groans  with  a  strange  surprise ; 
The  rest  in  silence  mourn  their  King, 

That  bleeds,  and  loves,  and  dies. 

Seraph  and  saint,  with  dropping  wings, 

Cease  their  harmonious  breath  ; 
No  blooming  trees,  nor  bubbling  springs, 

While  JESUS  sleeps  in  death. 

Then  all  at  once  to  living  strains 

They  summon  every  chord, 
Break  up  the  tomb,  and  burst  his  chains, 

And  shew  their  rising  LORD. 

Around,  the  flaming  army  throngs, 

To  guard  him  to  the  skies, 
With  loud  hosannas  on  their  tongues, 

And  triumph  in  their  eyes. 

In  awful  state  the  conqu'ring  GOD 

Ascends  his  shining  throne, 
While  tuneful  angels  sound  abroad 

The  vict'ries  he  has  won. 

Now  let  me  rise,  and  join  their  song, 

And  be  an  angel  too ; 
My  heart,  my  hand,  my  ear,  my  tongue, 

Here's  joyful  work  for  you. 

I  would  begin  the  music  here, 

And  so  my  soul  should  rise 
Oh  for  some  heavenly  notes,  to  bear 

My  spirit  to  the  skies ! 
01  2i2 


402  APPENDIX. 

There,  ye  that  love  my  Saviour,  sit, 

There  I  would  fain  have  place, 
Among  your  thrones,  or  at  your  feet, 
So  I  might  see  his  face. 

I  am  confin'd  to  earth  no  more, 
But  mount  in  haste  above, 

To  bless  the  God  that  I  adore, 
And  sing  the  MAN  I  love. 


TWO   HAPPY   RIVALS,  DEVOTION  AND   THE 
MUSE. 

WILD  as  the  lightning,  various  as  the  moon, 

Roves  my  Pindaric  song : 
Here  she  glows,  like  burning  noon, 
In  fiercest  flames,  and  here  she  plays 
Gentle  as  star-beams  on  the  midnight  seas  ; 
Now  in  a  smiling  angel's  form, 
Anon  she  rides  upon  the  storm, 
Loud  as  the  noisy  thunder,  as  a  deluge  strong, 

Are  my  thoughts  and  wishes  free, 
And  know  no  number  nor  degree ! 
Such  is  the  muse  :  Lo  she  disdains 

The  links  and  chains, 
Measures  and  rules  of  vulgar  strains, 
And  o'er  the  laws  of  harmony  a  sov'reign  queen  she  reign 

If  she  roves 
By  streams  or  groves, 
Tuning  her  pleasures  or  her  pains, 
My  passion  keeps  her  still  in  sight, 
My  passion  holds  an  equal  flight 
Through  love's  or  nature's  wide  campaigns. 
If,  with  bold  attempt  she  sings 
Of  the  biggest  mortal  things, 
Tott'ring  thrones  and  nations  slain  ; 
Or  breaks  the  fleets  of  warring  kings, 
While  thunders  roar 
From  shore  to  shore, 
My  soul  sits  fast  upon  her  wings, 
And  sweeps  the  crimson  surge,  or  scours  the  purple  nlain ; 


APPENDIX.  403 

Still  I  attend  her,  as  she  flies, 
Round  the  broad  globe,  and  all  beneath  the  skies. 

But,  when  from  the  meridian  star 

Long  streaks  of  glory  shine, 
And  heav'n  invites  her  from  afar, 
She  takes  the  hint,  she  knows  the  sign, 
The  muse  ascends  her  heavenly  car, 
And  climbs  the  sleepy  path  and  means  the  throne  divine  : 

Then  she  leaves  my  flutt'ring  mind, 

Clogg'd  with  clay  and  unrefin'd ; 

Lengths  of  distance  far  behind, 

Virtue  lags  with  heavy  wheel ; 

Faith  has  wings  but  cannot  rise, 

Cannot  rise, swift  and  high, 

As  the  winged  numbers  fly, 
And  faint  Devotion  panting  lies 

Half  way  th'  ethereal  hill. 

O  why  is  piety  so  weak, 

And  yet  the  muse  so  strong ! 
When  shall  these  hateful  fetters  break 

That  have  confin'd  me  long  ? 
Inward  a  glowing  heat  I  feel, 

A  spark  of  heav'nly  day  ; 
But  earthly  vapours  damp  my  zeal, 
And  heavy  flesh  drags  me  the  downward  way. 

Faint  ate  the  efforts  of  my  will, 
And  mortal  passion  charms  my  soul  astray. 
Shine,  thou  sweet  hour  of  dear  release, 
Shine  from  the  sky, 
And  call  me  high, 

To  mingle  with  the  choirs  of  glory  and  of  bliss. 
Devotion  there  begins  the  flight, 
Awakes  the  song,  and  guides  the  v,  ay  ; 
There  love  and  zeal,  divine  and  bright, 
Trace  out  m  in  the  world  of  light, 

And  scarce  the  boldest  muse  can  follow  or  obey. 

I'm  in  a  dream,  and  fancy  reigns, 
She  spreads  her  gay  delusive  scenes  ; 
Or  is  the  vision  true  ? 


404  APPENDIX. 

Behold  RELIGION  on  her  throne, 
In  awful  state  descending  down, 

And  her  dominions  vast  and  bright  within  my  soacious  view. 
She  smiles,  and  with  a  courteous  hand 

She  beckons  me  away  ; 

I  feel  mine  airy  pow'rs  loose  from  the  cumb'rous  clay, 
And  with  a  joyful  haste  obey 
RELIGION'S  high  command. 

What  lengths,  and  heights,  and  depths,  unknown 
Broad  fields  with  blooming  glory  sown, 
And  seas,  and  skies,  and  stars,  her  own, 

In  an  unmeasur'd  sphere  ! 
What  heav'ns  of  joy,  and  light  serene, 
Which  nor  the  rolling  sun  has  seen, 
Where  nor  the  roving  Muse  has  been, 
That  greater  traveller ! 

A  long  farewell  to  all  below, 
Farewell  to  all  that  sense  can  shew, 
To  golden  scenes,  and  flow'ry  fields, 
To  all  the  worlds  that  fancy  builds, 

And  all  that  poets  know. 
Now  the  swift  transports  of  the  mind 
Leave  the  fluttering  muse  behind, 
A  thousand  loose  Pindaric  plumes  fly  scattering  down  the 

wind. 
Among  the  clouds  I  lose  my  breath, 

The  rapture  grows  too  strong : 
The  feeble  pow'rs  that  nature  gave 
Faint  and  drop  downward  to  the  grave ; 
Receive  their  fall,  thou  treasurer  of  death ; 
I  will  BO  more  demand  my  tongue, 
Till  the  gross  organ,  well  refin'd, 
Can  trace  the  boundless  flights  of  an  unfetter'd  mind, 
And  raise  an  equal  song ! 

COME,  LORD  JESUS. 

WHEN  shall  thy  lovely  face  be  seen? 
When  shall  our  eyes  behold  our  GOD? 
What  lengths  of  distance  lie  between, 
And  hills  of  guilt.     A  heavy  load  1 


405 


Our  months  are  agres  of  delay, 
And  slowly  every  minute  wears  : 
Fly,  winged  time,  and  roll  away 
These  tedious  rounds  of  sluggish  years. 

Ye  heav'nly  gates,  loose  all  your  chains, 
Let  the  eternal  pillars  bow  ; 
Blest,  SAVIOUR,  cleave  the  starry  plains, 
And  make  the  crystal  mountains  flow. 

Hark,  how  thy  saints  unite  their  cries, 
And  pray  and  wait  the  general  doom  : 
Come,  thou,  the  soul  of  all  our  joys, 
Thou,  the  desire  of  nations,  come. 

Put  thy  bright  robes  of  triumph  on, 
And  bless  our  eyes,  and  bless  our  ears, 
Thou  absent  Love,  Ihou  dear  unknown, 
Thou  fairest  of  ten  thousand  fairs. 

Our  heart-strings  groan  with  deep  complaint, 
Our  flesh  lies  panting,  LORD,  for  thee, 
And  every  limb,  and  every  joint, 
Stretches  for  immortality. 

Our  spirits  shake  the'r  eager  wings, 
And  burn  to  meet  thy  flying  throne  : 
We  rise  away  from  mortal  things 
T'  attend  thy  shining  chariot  down. 

Now  let  our  cheerful  eyes  survey 
The  blazing  earth  and  melting  hills, 
And  smile  to  see  the  lightnings  play, 
And  flash  along  before  thy  wheels. 

O  for  a  shout  of  violent  joys 
To  join  the  trumpet's  thund'ring  sound! 
The  angel  herald  shakes  the  skies, 
Awakes  the  graves,  and  tears  the  ground. 

Ye  slumb'ring  saints,  a  heav'nly  host 
Stands  waiting  at  your  gaping  tombs  ; 


406  APPENDIX. 

Let  every  sacred  sleeping  dust 
Leap  into  life,  for  JESUS  comes. 

JESUS,  the  GOD  of  might  and  love, 
New  moulds  our  limbs  of  cumb'rous  clay; 
Quick  as  seraphic  flames  we  move, 
Active,  and  young,  and  fair,  as  they. 

Our  airy  feet  with  unknown  flight, 
Swift  as  the  motions  of  desire, 
Run  up  the  hills  of  heav'nly  light, 
And  leave  the  welt'ring  world  in  fire. 

A  SIGHT  OF  CHRIST. 

ANGELS  of  light,  your  GOD  and  KING  surround 

With  noble  songs ;  in  his  exalted  flesh 

He  claims  your  worship  ;  while  his  saints  on  earth 

Bless  their  REDEEMER-GOD  with  humble  tongues. 

Angels,  with  lofty  honours  crown  his  head ; 

We,  bowing  at  his  feet  by  faith,  may  feel 

His  distant  influence,  and  confess  his  love. 

Once  I  beheld  his  face,  when  beams  divine 
Broke  from  his  eye-lids,  and  unusual  light 
Wrapt  me  at  once  in  glory  and  surprise. 
My  joyful  heart,  high-leaping  in  my  breast, 
With  transport  cried,  "  This  is  the  CHRIST  of  GOD  !' 
Then  threw  my  arms  around  in  sweet  embrace, 
And  clasp'd,and  bow'd,  adoring  low,  till  I  was  lost  in  him. 

While  he  appears,  no  other  charms  can  hold 
Or  draw  my  soul,  asham'd  of  former  things, 
Which  no  remembrance  now  deserve,  or  name, 
Though  with  contempt ;  best  in  oblivion  hid. 

But  the  bright  shine  and  presence  soon  withdrew  ; 
I  sought  him  whom  I  love,  but  found  him  not ; 
I  felt  his  absence ;  and  with  strongest  cries 
Proclaim'd,  "  Where  JESUS  is  not,  all  is  vain  !" 
Whether  I  hold  him  with  a  full  delight, 
Or  seek  him  panting  with  extreme  desire, 


APPENDIX.  407 


'Tis  he  alone  can  please  my  wond'ring  soul ; 
To  hold  or  seek  him  is  my  only  choice. 
If  he  refrain  on  me  to  cast  his  eye 
Down  from  his  palace,  nor  my  longing  soul 
With  upward  look  can  spy  my  dearest  LORD 
Through  his  blue  pavement,  I'll  behold  him  still 
With  sweet  reflection,  on  the  peaceful  cross, 
All  in  his  blood  and  anguish  groaning  deep 

Gasping  and  dying  there ! 

This  sight  I  ne'er  can  lose,  by  it  I  live  : 
A  quick'ning  virtue,  from  his  death  inspired, 
Is  life  and  breath  to  me  :  his  flesh  my  food  ; 
His  vital  blood  I  drink,  and  hence  my  strength. 

I  live,  I'm  strong,  and  now  eternal  life 
Beats  quick  within  my  breast ;  my  vigorous  mind 
Spurns  the  dull  earth,  and  on  her  fiery  wings 
Reaches  the  mount  of  purposes  divine, 
Counsels  of  peace  'betwixt  th'  almighty  Three, 
Conceiv'd  at  once,  and  sign'd  without  debate, 
In  perfect  union  of  th'  eternal  mind. 
With  vast  amaze  I  see  th'  unfathom'd  thoughts, 
Infinite  schemes,  and  infinite  designs, 
Of  GOD'S  own  heart,  in  which  he  ever  rests. 
Eternity  lies  open  to  my  view ; 
Here  the  beginning  and  the  end  of  all 
I  can  discover  ;  CHRIST  the  end  of  all, 
And  CHRIST  the  great  beginning ;  he  my  head, 
My  GOD,  my  glory,  and  my  all  in  all. 

O  that  the  day,  the  joyful  day,  were  come, 
When  the  first  Adam  from  his  ancient  dust, 
Crown'd  with  new  honours,  shall  revive,  and  see 
JESUS  his  son  and  lord ;  while  shouting  saints 
Surround  their  King,  and  GOD'S  eternal  Son 
Shines  in  the  midst  but  with  surperior  beams, 
And  like  himself;  then  the  mysterious  WORD, 
Long  hid  behind  the  letter,  shall  appear 
All  spirit  and  life,  and  in  the  fullest  light 
Stand  forth  to  public  view ;  and  there  disclose 
His  Father*s  sacred  works,  and  wond'rous  ways : 
Then  wisdom,  righteousness,  and  grace  divine, 


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